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Handbook on Spices and Condiments (Cultivation, Processing and Extraction)

Published: 2010Publisher: Asia Pacific Business Press Inc.
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The term Spice and Condiments applies to natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures in whole or ground form, which are used for imparting flavour, aroma and piquancy to the food items. Spices and condiments are a major commercial crop in India, and earn a major part of foreign exchange annually. They have been the backbone of agricultural industry. The importance of spices and condiment in dietary, medicinal and other uses, and their commercial importance are immense. India is known the world over as the home of spices. Thus spices are an important group of agricultural goods, which are virtually indispensable in the culinary art. Spice processing includes different steps: spice cleaning, spice reconditioning and spice grinding. Some spices were also used for preserving food like meat for a year or more without refrigeration. In the 16th century cloves for instance were among the spices used to preserve food without refrigeration. Cloves contain a chemical called eugenol that inhibits the growth of bacteria. It is a natural antibiotic. It is still used to preserve food like Virginia Ham. Likewise later mustard and ground mustard were also found to have preservative qualities. India alone contributes 25 30 % of the total world trade in spices. It may be interesting to note that nine spices namely pepper ginger clove cinnamon cassia mace nutmeg pimento (allspice) and cardamom alone contributed as much as 90% of the total world trade. Pepper is the most important spice in the world and so also of India.
This book basically deals with brief history of spices, uses of spices, world trade in spices area & production of spices in India, area and production of spices in India, major and minor spices of India, spice processing, quality issues with spices, bird chillies and Tabasco chillies, basil or sweet basil, seasoning blend duplication and tricks, sauces and gravies, snack seasonings, quality issues with spices, etc.
This book is a single compendium which deals with all aspects and facts of spices and condiments which may meet the requirements of all those handling them at various stages, from harvesting to their end use. This book contains post harvest management, the potentials of genetic engineering, high production technology in spices with plantation and processing of various spices and condiments such as vanilla, turmeric, tamarind, saffron, black pepper, onion, mint, ginger, garlic, curry leaf, coriander etc.

Sample Chapters

Introduction

Spices and
condiments need no introduction since India is known the world over as
The Home
of Spices. Spices constitute an important group of agricultural
commodities which
are virtually indispensable in the culinary art. They also play a
significant
role in our national economy and so also in the national economies of
several
spice producing exporting and importing countries. For instance during
the year
1996 97 India earned foreign exchange to the tune of over Rs. 1180
crores
through the export of about 219 400 mt of different spices Table 1.
Besides huge
quantities of spices are also being consumed within the country for
flavouring
foods and are also used in medicine pharmaceutical perfumery cosmetics
and
several other industries.

According
to the
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) there is no clear
cut
division between spices and condiments and as such they have been
clubbed
together. The term spices and condiments applies to such natural plant
or
vegetable products or mixtures thereof in whole or ground form as are
used for
imparting flavour aroma and piquancy to and for seasoning of foods .

There are
over
80 spices grown in different parts of the world and 50 spices are grown
in
India. Spices may comprise different plant components or parts such as

Spices are
well
known as appetisers and are considered essential in the culinary art
all over
the world. They add tang and flavour to otherwise insipid foods. Some
of them
also possess antioxidant properties while others are used as
preservatives in
some foods like pickles and chutneys etc. Some spices also possess
strong
antimicrobial and antibiotic activities. Many of them possess medicinal
properties and have a profound effect on human health since they affect
many
functional processes. For instance spices intensify salivary flow and
the
secretion of amylase neuraminic acid and hexosamines. They favour the
cleansing
of the oral cavity from food adhesion and bacteria they help to check
infection
and caries and protect the mucous membrane against thermic mechanical
and
chemical irritation. Spices increase the secretion of saliva rich in
ptyalin which
facilitates starch digestion in the stomach rendering the meals which
are rich
in carbohydrates more digestible. Spices possibly activate the adreno
cortical
function and fortify resistance and physical capacity. Stroke volume
blood
pressure and stroke frequency can be markedly diminished or augmented
by means
of spices. The significance of these possibilities is evident with
regard to
the ailing on the one hand and to the performance conscious sportsman
on the
other. Spices inhibit thrombus formation and accelerate thrombolysis.
All these
important physiological and medicinal aspects of spices and condiments
deserve
our serious consideration and further thorough probe wherever necessary.

Brief History of Spices

The fame of
Indian spices is older than the recorded history. Centuries before
Greece and
Rome had their birth sailing ships were carrying to Mesopotamia Arabia
and
Egypt the Indian spices perfumes and fine textiles. It was the lure of
these
spices that brought many seafarers to the shores of India.

Long before
the
Chiristian era the Greek merchants thronged the markets of South India
buying spices
among other precious things. Epicurean Rome was spending a fortune on
Indian
spices silks brocades and cloth of gold etc. The Parthian wars are
believed to
have been fought by Rome largely to keep open the trade route to India.
It is
also said that there might have been no crusades and no expeditions to
the East
without the lure of India s spices and her other famed products.

Today when
spices cost so little it seems unbelievable that they were once a royal
luxury
and those men were willing to risk their lives in quest of them. It was
in the
year 1492 that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. Five
years later four
tiny ships sailed southward from the port of Lisbon Portugal under the
guidance
of Captain Vasco Da Gama. Like Columbus Vasco Da Gama too was searching
for a
new route to the spice lands of Asia. While Columbus failed to achieve
that
goal Da Gama succeeded. In a two year 24 000 mile round trip he took
his ships
around the continent of Africa to India and back to Lisbon. Only two of
the
four ships survived to reach their homeport. These two ships brought
back a
cargo of spices and other products worth 60 times the cost of the said
voyage!

The spices
of
the East were valuable in Da Gama s time as they had been for centuries
because
they could be used to stretch Europe s inadequate supply of food.
During these
Midddle Ages a pound of ginger was worth a sheep a pound of mace worth
three
sheep or half a cow! Pepper the most valuable spice of all was counted
out in
individual peppercorns and a sack of pepper was said to be worth a man
s life!
Vasco Da Gama s successful voyage intensified an international power
struggle
for control over the spice trade. For three centuries afterward the
nations of
Western Europe Portugal Spain France Holland and Great Britain fought
bloody
sea was over the spice producing colonies.

In a
nutshell the
fascinating history of spices is a story of adventure exploration
conquest and
fierce naval rivalry!

Uses of Spices

The people
of
those times used spices as we do today to enhance or vary the flavours
of their
foods. Spices were also flavour disguisers masking the taste of the
tainted
food that was still nutritious but would if unspiced have to be thrown
away.
Some spices were also used for preserving food like meat for a year or
more
without refrigeration! In the 16th century cloves for instance were
among the
spices used to preserve food without refrigeration. Cloves contain a
chemical
called eugenol that inhibits the growth of bacteria. It is a natural
antibiotic. It is still used to preserve food like Virginia Ham.
Likewise later
mustard and ground mustard were also found to have preservative
qualities. When
spices were not available people often went hungry because they could
not
preserve their food for the winter. Such was the economic importance of
spices
in those days.

World Trade in Spices Area & Production of Spices in
India

India alone
contributes 25 30 % of the total world trade in spices. It may be
interesting
to note that nine spices namely pepper ginger clove cinnamon cassia
mace nutmeg
pimento (allspice) and cardamom alone contributed as much as 90% of the
total
world trade. Pepper is the most important spice in the world and so
also of
India. Among the importing countries USA is the largest importer of
spices.
Several other countries like Australia Britain Canada Russia and some
European
countries also import spices.

Area and Production of Spices in India

About 50
spices
are grown in India as compared to 86 in the world. Out of these about
20 25 are
commercially cultivated in different states of India. The recent
available
published information on area and production of 15 important spices is
summed
up in Table 1 as under

In India
the
major spices grown are pepper cardamom (small and large) ginger
turmeric and
chillies. Pepper is the most important spice of India rightly termed as
the King
of spices and is
also known as black
gold of India . Corresponding higher figures can be seen from Fig. 1.
Thus
though spice crops are cultivated in comparatively small units as
compared to
food crops they contribute a sizeable share in the international trade.

Major and Minor Spices of India

As stated
above there
are five major spices namely black pepper (the most important spice of
India
and also of the world) capsicum/chillies ginger turmeric and cardamom
(small
and large). Together they contribute 65 to 85% of the total foreign
exchange
earnings from all spices.

Important
minor
spices grown in India are ajowan aniseed caraway celery seed coriander
cumin dill
seed fennel fenugreek garlic onion saffron and vanilla etc.
Unfortunately no
reliable statistics are available on the total area and production of
minor
spices in different states of India. All these major and minor spices
are
discussed individually in respect of their nomenclature (for the
purpose of
their proper identification) brief description distribution composition
and
economic utilisation.

Individually
spices
could be classified or grouped according to different systems of
classification
such as according to their (a) botanical analogies or families (b)
economic
importance viz major and minor spices (c) similarity in methods of
cultivation (d)
similarity in plant parts or components such as seedy spices leafy
spices bulbous
spices rhizomes and roots etc. But each system has its own merits and
demerits.
Space does not permit in this short handbook to go into such
technicalities.
For simplicity and convenience of reference the spices have been
discussed one
by one in an alphabetical order irrespective of the above
considerations. Of
course effort has been made to record the latest correct nomenclature
and
family to which each spice belongs along with their popular English
names as
well as their names in Indian languages. By no means is this first
popular
Indian book considered exhaustive or complete in all aspects. For
instance agronomical
or cultivation aspects basic chemical microbiological and technological
aspects
etc. for the obvious reason of being too technical are outside the
scope of
this handbook.

It is the
purpose of this compendium to compile collate categorise and condense
the
available published information found scattered in different foreign
and Indian
magazines/ books bulletins reports and standard reference works which
are not
easily available to the educated layman. It is also intended to
highlight the
economic importance of spices and the tremendous role they play in
human health
about which the layman may not be fully aware. It is also proposed to
stress
the importance of further researches on the precise effects of
different spices
on different human systems viz. digestion respiration circulatory and
nervous
systems etc.

It
is earnestly hoped that this
humble attempt in bringing out a handbook on spices though belated will
fill
the gap adequately.

The demand
for
spice oleoresins is increasing as they offer certain advantages over
natural
whole or ground spices such as consistency in quality freedom from
microorganisms
uniform dispersion of the product and easy handling and saving in
storage space
etc. USA is the major importer and consumer of oleoresins. ITC has
estimated
that USA accounts for an estimated 50% of the total world oleoresin
consumption. UK and Germany are the other major importers of
oleoresins.

India s
export
of spice oils & oleoresins has shown remarkable growth in the
last decade.
Export has increased from 162 mt to 879 mt and the foreign exchange
earnings
from Rs. 2.66 crores to Rs. 69 crores in 1993 and over Rs. 260 crores
during
1996 97. An annual average growth rate of 20% in quantity and 31% in
value has
been achieved in this period. Pepper oil & oleoresin constitute
a major
share of total spice oils and oleoresins exported from India. The
oleoresins of
capsicum chilli ginger turmeric and celery seed are the other important
items
(Table 3). Our major export markets are USA Germany and UK.

The
exports of over 20 individual
spice oleoresins as well as essential oils both in terms of quantum and
value
are depicted in Tables 3 & 4 respectively in the descending
order of
foreign exchange earnings for both the categories of products. The
trend in the
export of the two commodities collectively during the past 15 years is
illustrated in showing the tremendous progress made (over 35 times that
in the
late seventies). The CFTRI scientists who have perfected the techniques
have
successfully achieved the technology transfer to a number of spice
processing
industries both in India and abroad some of them ever as turnkey jobs
too.

High Production Technology in Spices

There is no
field of scientific research in which workers can afford to ignore the
importance of research carried through thesis dissertations and other
research
projects both ad hoc and permanent nature as a source of information
financed
by central/state Govt. Private orgationisations and NGOs from time to
time.
These may be available through translation pamphlets bulletins etc.
Patents are
descriptions of inventions and have the effect of granting the patent
holder
the exclusive license to produce distribute and sell the invented item.
Patent
documents thus constitute a record of the original outcome of original
research
and development work in spice crops. In addition proceedings of
conferences congress
etc. have their own kind of importance as media for discriminating the
results
of scientific research of all the spice crops. Publications of
conference
proceedings will sometimes include transcripts of discussion at the
block/regional state national and international level after each
session. Some
conference papers are specially designed to stimulate discussion or to
suggest
future lines of research in each or group of spices or aspect which
might be
productive in pocket or area. These programmes take place annually six
monthly
and becomes base for the future years in a well planned way. The
research
projects which are need based on the local problems and are discussed
at length
before these are executed in various centers or designated centers.
Moreover outstanding
figures of scientists of repute in a scientific research field are/will
be
invited to deliver the special lecture on the states of the art in
their own
areas of research in a specialized way.

Therefore
researchers
in developing countries are becoming more aware and conscious of the
need to
transfer part of the research activities from the experimental stations
or
laboratories in all the SAUs ICAR/IARI institutions Military Farms NGOs
private
companies various Boards and other organizations engaged in the Spice
Industry to
transmit the spice technology to the farmers fields. This awareness has
resulted from the realization of the phenomenon of yield gap of the
spices inspite
of massive efforts of research carried out in research institutions and
their
satellite stations. Even though high spice crop yields were obtained in
most of
the trials conducted in experimental stations in the recent years the
same
could not be realized in more diverse and actual farming situations
where these
spice crops are grown in the country. The experience of various
research and
production organizations involved in evolving the better varieties
through
breeding production and seed production their commercialization post
harvest
management and added value improvement has not made much headway for
various
reasons. From time to time at the central and state level various
boards and
other organizations have joined hands to make developments in planned
way and
systematic manner by way of different long and short term projects
being
sanctioned and financed by the Govt. through various agencies banks
etc. In
this regard an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the center and
state
level chalked out a new strategy of laying out of research trials on
selected
components of high production technology in farmers fields and for
validating
the findings under real field situations at least in all the main and
sub
centers in the country under the aegis of Spice Board. The main
strategy should
be for the speedy dissemination of developed technologies which in
anticipation
confirmed through research cum demonstration plots conducted on SAU s
Agri./Hort.
Deptt. or on the progressive farmers fields and others in their
selected
fields. Therefore the status of information and knowledge gathered from
such
field trials will not only help the scientific community but will also
help in
enriching the practical knowledge of the selected farmers which will
act as
source of inspiration for farmers and also act as nodal agent for the
spread of
the developed technology. Thus it becomes of utmost importance to
examine the
rational behind on farm research strategy from a managerial perspective.

The on farm
trial research carried out on experimental stations seems to be more
realistic
because the trials are laid out under controlled conditions. But on the
other
hand the on farm method the research is attempted in locations where
the
results are to be adopted by the masses. The results of such researches
are
manifested in a situation where there is diverse interaction between
ecological
social and economic factors the farmers are faced with. How far it is
justified
is not known. Further the very formulation of gather research
problems/objectives should be based on the local needs/problems of the
farmers
of a particular situation. Under more or less centralized set up of
experimental stations the formulation of collected data of proposed
research
agenda is often based on theoretical academic consideration of highly
qualified
researchers or on the feedback the scientists receive from intervention
agencies. But on farm research provides the scientist (s) in
opportunity for
gaining first hand knowledge of farmers actual needs and practical
problems
based on which he can plan formulate implement and follow of his
research
project on sound footing for conclusive results which will be of
beneficial use
to the farmers and others engaged in spice industry.

Now the
participation of farmers has become a dire necessity to take up part a
planning
organizing executing and implementing the conclusive research
programmes more
effectively and this should be acceptable to the farmers in principle
regarding
spice crops. In practice formal meetings are expected to provide a
forum among
the scientists growers and others. Only presence of growers in such
meetings
does not mean appropriate participation. However in the present top
down
approach of research the growers are considered as the passive
recipients of a
package of practices developed by a research system. Normally growers
not aware
of where how and what of research on spice crops. The exposure to such
research
information generated will only lead to a psychological dissonance for
the
farmers who are active information seekers. Thus the farmers fail to
evaluate
the very rationale of the improved spice technology advocated to them.
Now it
has to be realized that involvement of the farmers in the very process
of
reseanch/ experimental work has got considerable psychological value in
the
moderationisation process.

The
integration
of formal and informal research carried at the farmers level and also
at
different regions at various research units has got a special
significance.
Some of the progressive farmers understand the utility of the improved
techniques which he has to conduct at his fields to know the
authenticity of
the proposed programmes. Therefore the notion that the farmers are also
researchers is being slowly accepted. The farmers now a days knew that
the
proposed programme is of utility or not and accordingly he accepts and
follows.
Moreover farmers have developed many indigenous techniques which have
been
tried by generations and validated through their practical experience.
This
process is called informal research. On farm research by virtue of
closeness of
the researchers to the land he can attempt to learn from the farmers
and try to
integrate their informal research into the continuing process of formal
technology development.

The
feasibility
of research conducted will be better known on the manner it is
implemented and
adopted by the farmers in fullproof way. Once the farmer comes across
an
innovation he tries to evaluate it under his situations in terms of its
relative advantage and compatibility with his system. Before adopting
it the
farmer tries out the innovation on a small scale in order to observe
its
results. In case of existing formal research process the innovation
evaluation
by the farmer takes place only at a later stage only when the entire
process of
research on spice crops is over. But when the research is carried out
in
farmers fields the feasibility of adoption of any finding is determined
early
in the testing process because of the early involvement of the
progressive
farmers. The approach also shortens the time for the flow of
information from
research scientist (s) to farmers and vice versa.

Potentials of Biotechnology in Improvement in Spice Crops

Natural or
artificially created genetic variability is a sine qua non for making
selection
an earliest and a potential suo moto methodology of plant breeding for
varietal
improvement. For the sake of applying selection for better yielding
genotypes genetic
variabilities have been created by a gamut of breeding activities like
artificial hybridization induced mutation polyploidy regeneration of
plants
from cells or tissues in vitro and the transfer of genes from unrelated
foreign
source with the help of recombinant DNA techniques. Of late the
techniques of
tissue culture and that of recombinant DNA for the creation of novel
plant
variants with respect to better resistance to biotic or abiotic
stresses quality
and quantity of crop harvest or for producing specific biocompound etc.
have
been termed as plant biotechnology. Plant biotechnology finds its base
in the
quest for improvement of plants in general or in relation to specific
crop
groups like spices vegetables cereals or trees and the techniques can
be put to
the improvement of any of them. Here attempt has been made to overview
the
biotechnological aspect of plant improvement in general with some
specific
available recent references related to crop species including spices
and
covered under two major subheadings. 1. The potentials of techniques
related to
tissue culture and 2. The potentials of techniques related to genetic
engineering.

The Potentials of Techniques Related to Tissue Culture

Spices are
heterogeneous group belonging to various primitive to advanced families
and
thus pose a challenge for their improvement by the use of
biotechnology. The
techniques of tissue culture could be speculated to be important for
the
improvement of these crops in three principal ways. The first is by
looking for
in vitro regenerated variants or somac1ones for yield attributing and
other
traits. The second is harvesting of specific biocompound or group of
compounds
prevalent in a particular spice crop in large scale cell cultures under
laboratory conditions in bioreactors. The third is the standardization
of
regeneration protocols for commercial micropropagation of high yielding
disease
resistant or a heterotic hybrid cultivars as severals of spice crops
are
vegetatively propagated species.

Implementation
of tissue culture techniques however is not so simple and encounters
problems
in regeneration protocols which are not universal and highly genotypic
and
species specific and not precisely reproducible. Hence accrual of
beneficial
genetic variability in vitro is a time labour and resource intensive
process though
commercial varieties have been produced in different crops by this
method
nonetheless the results have been limited and disappointing. Chances of
creating beneficial variability are very high specially in case of
crops having
narrow genetic bases than those which have been well bred.

Thus the
chances
of success in such spice crops which are vegetatively propagated and
have
narrow genetic bases by dint of absence of natural breeding are quite
high. The
variability generated in tissue culture could however be exploited
without
understanding it genetically though variants must be evaluated over
locations.

Of the wide
range of variants generated in tissue culture most are generally
deleterious or
not novel to the parallel variants existing in the natural populations.
In
addition genetic instability is encountered with variant beneficial
somac1ones which
often revert back to normal after sometimes. The beneficial traits
appear
because of epigenetic changes which express for initial 2 to 3
generations and
do no inherit afterwards. Based on which part of the plant is used to
regenerate plants in vitro the basic culture technique is referred to
be called
as organ culture meristem culture anther ovule ovary and embryo culture
protoplast
culture protoplast fusion and culture or somatic cell hybridization.
Similarly
tissue culture derived variants have been referred as somaclones
protoclones calliclones
subclones and phenovariants. From the view point of creating de novo
variability from tissue culture two main routes used for the
regeneration of
plantlets from explants or the callus formed from the explants are the
somatic
embryogenesis and the organogenesis.

Somatic Embryogenesis

Somatic
embryogenesis is the process of production of embryo like structures
(somatic
embryos) from asexual or vegetative cells in tissue culture first
observed in
the cell suspension cultures of carrot (Daucus carota) followed by the
observation that the phenomenon could be induced in the tissue culture
of
umbellifers and now known to be an event that could probably be induced
in the
tissue cultures of all plant families. Embryogenesis in cultures in
usually
induced by the removal of auxin or the substitution of less potent
auxin like
NAA for a more potent one e.g. the 2 4 D. Many cultures need a high
auxin
(usually 2 4 D) treatment prior to this triggering step in order to
achieve the
rapid rate of cell division leading to meristem like conditions
required for
embryo initiation. In the later stages of embryogenesis sufficient
amount of
hormones are produced endogenously making them hormone autonomous.
Highly
variable sequence of cell division in plants creates problem in
obtaining
uniform experimental material during somatic embryogenesis providing
ample
chance of genetic variability or somaclonal variations on which
selection can
be made for improvement of desired trait or group of traits.

Production
of
somatic embryos from the cell tissue or embryo etc. cultures have been
reported
to proceed either directly (without an intervening callus phase) or
indirectly
after some form of callus cultures the former occurring generally from
explants
maintained on solid culture medium but the latter in case of limited
number of
species from liquid cell suspension cultures. Indirect embryogenesis is
particularly attractive for micropropagation as long as genetic
stability could
be maintained. A vast number of somatic embryos could be produced in
small
volumes of culture media in a synchronous manner (e.g. 105 embryos from
Ig of
tissue) thus allowing mechanization and reduced labour costs for
commercial
production. Direct somatic embryogenesis has been of particular utility
for
haploid production from cultured anthers or immature pollens. Haploid
plants
have been reported to be regenerated in more than 50 species through
anther
culture with the majority in gramineae solanaceae and cruciferae and
the one
crop plant for which this technique works particularly well is the
barley. The
rapid production of inbred lines following chromosome doubling of
haploids
either spontaneously or using colchicine have been said to be exploited
to
produce varieties of rice wheat and tobacco. Such dihaploid lines have
been
found to be suitable for substituting near isogenic inbred lines (NILs)
or
recombinant inbred lines (RILs) used in DNA finger printing for
identifying DNA
markers for specific traits or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) traits
governed
by complex loci.

The somatic
embryos develop and germinate to form plants analogous to the
germination of
zygotic embryos. The somatic embryos could be and have been
encapsulated with
chemically synthesized covering of alginate complex and could be stored
and transported
to far off locations like the plant seeds tubers bulbs or rhizomes and
have
been termed as synthetic/artificial seeds. These could be grown into
plants
within stipulated periods by providing specific growth medium without
exogenous
hormones until plantlets reach a suitable size for further transfer to
artificial soil vermiculite or the soil itself. This system could serve
as
cheap and alternative plant delivery system but several encountered
problems
still need to be solved. The main problem with the technique of
artificial seed
is not the embryogenesis but lack of plant regeneration from these
embryos and
poor viability after storage handling and transportation.

In addition
to
using somatic embryos axillary buds adventitious buds and shoot tips
have also
been used to encapsulate as artificial seeds. In plant species where
somatic
embryogenesis is not established these alternative explants could be
useful for
the production of synthetic seeds. Artificial seed production from
various
explants in alfalfa brinjal carrot brassica lettuce sandal wood rice
horse
radish mulberry eucalyptus vitis banana grape lettuce mango spruce
orchard
grass cardamom black pepper ginger turmeric vanilla cinnamon camphor
anise lavender
capsicum celery Carum carvi and coriander have been reported. Somatic
embryo
formation or plantlets regeneration from somatic embryos from several
spices
like ginger black pepper endangered spice Piper barberi garlic
coriander caraway
cumin fennel saffron celery black pepper have also been reported.

Organogenesis

It is the
process of shoots and root formation one after the other in callus
during
tissue culture regeneration allowing to plantlet formation.
Organogenesis has
been reported to be more wide spread and controllable process than
embryogenesis. In Convolulus the same meristem or primordium have been
found to
be induced to form a shoot or a root depending on the growth conditions
of the
culture hence Warren argued that perhaps shoot and root formation could
be
considered as facets of one basic process. In certain instances e.g.
tobacco fairly
precise hormonal switches altering growth conditions of the medium are
available that determine the developmental pathways followed in
organogenesis.
This makes these pathways useful systems for the study of control
mechanisms
involved in organogenesis.

The
application
of appropriate hormones is thus the main controls over organogenesis
like the
case with other types of differentiation during growth and development.
Exact
nature of hormonal triggers varies greatly between species however the
ratio of
auxin to cytokinin has been found to have consistent effect on a
variety of
systems. Work with tobacoo cultures have revealed that cultured issue
responds
to relative concentrations rather than absolute amounts of hormones.
But however
is not an universal phenomenon as it is not applicable in general to
monocotyledonous species though it has been extended to many other
species.
Accepting these limitations it is established that high auxin
concentration
relative to cytokinins favours root formation and vice versa.. Precise
amounts
or concentrations in the medium will however be required to be
standardized for
mach species or genotypes under consideration. This behaviour could be
used and
have been used to induce plantlet formation by sequential initiation of
shoots
followed by roots.

Organogenesis
from cultured cells depend on the presence of preexisting carried
through from
the explant or induced meristmatic primordia which are rapidly dividing
groups
of cells with a presumable capacity of spatial or temporal biochemical
organization leading to differentiation. Usually presence of high auxin
levels
induced relatively vacuolated cultured cells to give rise to clusters
of
meristmatic cells under appropriate conditions. Preexisting meristmatic
and
vacuolated meristmatic cells (adventitious meristems) could be induced
to
proliferate by application of cytokinins which remove apical dominance
effect
while adventitious meristems could be induced from explant either
directly or
with the intervening callus stage. These pathways followed could have a
dramatic effect on the genetic constitution of regenerated plantlets
enabling
the generation of somaclonal variation by the process of organogenesis
on which
selection can be made to effect plant improvement.

Most of the
early plantlet generations through tissue culture is by following
protocols
responsible for organogenesis and termendous literature is available
regarding this
aspect in several crop species commercial or otherwise. Reports about
the use
of this method in spices have also started appearing in the recent
literature.
In a review Nirmal Babu have stated that tissue culture protocols for
rapid
clonal propagation and production of disease free plantings are
available for
over 35 major spices of which cardamom black pepper and vanilla are
being
produced commercially. In black pepper ginger and cardamom large number
of
somaclones has been produced to isolate useful genotypes with
resistance to
Phytophthora root rot soft rot and viral diseases respectively. In
garlic tissue
culture method with high propagation efficiency and in vitro bulblet
formation
has been developed by Ayabe which could be applied for generating virus
free
seed plants and Haque have developed a method of high frequency shoot
regeneration and plantlet formation from root tips of garlic. Ahuja
have shown
the possibility of regenerating saffron plantlets through organogenesis
from
callus induced from bulblets. Formation of plantlets from adventitious
shoots
from sticky callus in ginger has been reported by Ishida and Adachi.
Novel
genetic variability generated through tissue culture either by
organogenesis
and/or embryogenesis is therefore expected to bring sea change in spice
crops
improvement in the near future.

Micropropagation

It is the
process of regeneration of plants from a single genotype either by
somatic
embryogenesis or by organogenesis through enhanced precocious axillary
shoot
formation or production of direct adventitious shoots with minimum or
no
genetic variability for commercial propagation. At present for many
horticultural crops there are protocols that allow in vitro
regeneration in
large scale of many plant species as a matter of routine.
Multiplication
potential of over 106 meristem tips/explant/year by direct adventitious
bud
formation in plantain/ banana and 105 somatic embryos from 1 g of
tissue have
been exhibited. This is actually the technique of cloning of plants in
tissue
culture which has now become the basis of a whole new world wide
micropropagation industry that multiply plants by this clonal method.
Around
2000 different plant species have been observed to be amenable to be
propagated
by tissue culture on simple or large scale. In specific meristem
culture is of
general use in micropropagation. Commercial micropropagation especially
successful with ornamental plants has now been extended to agricultural
plantation crops such as potato strawberry oil palm and banana as well
as to
medicinal and aromatic plants and trees.

Micropropagation
could be of specific use in the commercial production of spice crops
like
ginger and turmeric and other medicinal and aromatic plants which are
generally
propagated by vegetative means. Cardamom black pepper and vanilla are
now being
produced at commerical scale by in vitro techniques. Generally
micropropagation
from meristem culture has one advantage with respect to diseases caused
by
viruses. Viruses live within plants and are transmitted from one
generation to
the next specially in those crops that are vegetatively propagated.
However for
reasons that are still unclear meristem remains free from virus
infection and
micropropagation from it produces seedlings free of virus diseases and
have
been demonstrated in carnation strawberries cow pea chrysanthemum and
peanut.
Virus free plants have been reported to be produced from atleast 65
species and
for example in potato alone atleast 130 cultivars have been freed from
virus infection.
Pathogen free plants have also been produced from stocks infected with
mycoplasmas fungi and bacteria. Disease free meristem cultures are also
an
ideal source of material for micropropagation and have been found to
show
maximum genetic stability and least somaclonal variations than
micropropagation
from axillary or adventitious shoots as they show a loss of organized
meristem
in primary cultures. Murashige has described cell and organ culture
methods in
the establishment of pathogen free stocks while Quack have given an
account of
virus free clones regenerated from wide range of economically important
crops.
About 300 laboratories worldwide have been reported to be engaged in
micropropagation by Murashige.

Secondary Metabolites from Cell Cultures

In fact the
very
importance of a spice as a crop is because of their synthesis of
unusual
chemicals/compounds called secondary metabolites in that part of
harvest which
is used as spice having medicinal or aromatic properties. Severals of
such
chemicals have been extracted from the crop plants grown in open
fields.
Culture technology others avenues of synthesizing such chemicals in
laboratories rather than harvest from intact spice crops from the
field. It
renders biocompound production under environmentally controlled
conditions free
from diseases and pests flooding and droughts to which field crops are
vulnerable and on a continuous basis without bothering for crop season
and
foreign political interference. In tissue cultures depending on
biocompound product
types plant species and the cell lines under consideration plant cell
suspension cultures have been found to vary enormously in their
capacity to
produce and accumulate secondary metabolite products thus giving ample
scope of
electing cell lines with highest yielding capability. Culturing of such
lines
on large scale under controlled conditions provides opportunities of
manufacturing such compounds from spices or any other medicinal or
aromatic
plants. Recent availability of gene manipulation technology has further
raised
exciting possibilities or the directed enhancement of secondary
metabolite
yields tremendously in the cell cultures in bioreactors.

Optimization
of
culture conditions is one of the possible methods of raising production
of target
biocompounds in the culture medium. Screening and selection of higher
yielding
cell lines inherent in callus and suspension cultures from the existing
natural
variability in spice crops provides another possible method of raising
production from the viewpoint of industrial success. Zenk while taking
clue
from this approach developed radioimmunoassays specific for determining
variability in the synthesis of alkaloids ajmalicine and serpentine
contents of
a single root cell of Catharanthus roseus in cultures. Cell suspensions
selected manually using this method were able to produce higher
alkaloid levels
than produced by the cells of whole plants in vivo. The fluorescent
nature of
alkaloid serpentine also provided an additional means of screening by
fluorescence
activated cell sorting (FACS technique). In this under long wave UV
light
illumination serpentine auto fluoresces bright blue and could be
visualized
within the cell vacuoles using UV light microscopes.

Apart from
above
screening methods additional approaches of selecting high yielding cell
lines
could be tried for depending on specific instances of biocompounds and
crop
under consideration. For instance in C. roseus selection of high
alkaloid
producing cell lines could be possible by application of selection
pressure in
the form of addition of toxic amino acid analogues. In this plant
indole
alkaloids are derived from amino acid tryptophan via triptamine. When 5
methyl
tryptophan analogue of tryptophan was added to cell cultures the
enzymes for
metabolism of tryptophan recognize this analogue as substrate in place
of
tryptophan and change metabolism culminating to the death of callus
treated
with this analogue. However if the few cells in a population of several
millions have high internal capacity to synthesize tryptophan
internally it
competes with its analogue to allow the survival of such lines in the
culture allowing
identification of high tryptophan yielding cell lines and hence the
lines
producing indole alkaloids which is derived from the tryptophan.

Other than
selecting high yielding cell lines for the production of biocompounds
of
interest in spice or medicinal plants another potential use of cell
culture
system is that of biotransformation. In this the conversion of one or
more indigenously
supplied precursor to more available product (s) is allowed in one or
two steps
reactions in the bioreactors. More complex multienzyme synthesis in
which
product is either synthesized de navo from basic culture medium
components such
as sucrose and salts or from a relatively distant precursor are also
covered
under the head biotransformation. Simple biotransformations are mostly
stereospecific involving the addition or removal of single chemical
groups by
hydroxylation glycosylation acetylation and methylation such as the C12
hydroxylation of digitoxin to digoxin a heart drug by cultured cells of
foxglove Digitalis lanata. More complex synthesis include the
production of
various alkaloids such as scopolamine in Hyoscyamus niger and in Atropa
belendona anthocyanin in C. roseus and Daucus carota and anthraquinones
in
Morinda citrifolia etc. etc.

Irrespective
of
early optimism in the commercial use of these techniques large scale
development of cultured cells for such synthesis remains a far cry due
to
problems that are encountered at biological and technological levels.
One of
the hilarious bottlenecks is the fact that in majority of cases studied
so far cultured
cells have been observed to synthesize and accumulate only very low
levels of
specific secondary metabolite under consideration usually levels lower
than
those present in the cells of intact plants.

As for the
technological part is concerned large scale production of secondary
metabolites
in cultured cells per se or by biotransformation two main strategies
have been
tried so far. In the fermenter system approach freshly suspended cells
are
grown upto a stationary phase in one or two stage process and then
harvested to
extract the products. In immobilized cell system cells are embedded or
entrapped in an inert polymetric matrix such as gels foam or cartridge
of
hollow fibers where the aim is to achieve a continuous or semi
continuous
production process which in turn requires that the product is naturally
released or its release could be induced by reversibly permeabilizing
the
cells.

In large
scale
fermenter several species have been cultured successfully with often
very low
product yields. The only example of successful commercial production to
cite so
far is that of red pigment shikonin in fermenter developed by Mitsu
Corporation
of Japan. Immobilization which is relatively new for plants is yet to
deliver
results of commercial significance but it has potential advantages of
both the
physiological and chemical engineering nature. A general account of
bioreactors
for the production of various compounds per se or through
biotransformation by
plant cell immobilization technique along with the major problems
encountered
and that remains to be solved for determination and maintenance of
optimal
conditions for product formation in bioreactors and for understanding
what
factors are crucial for scale up have been detailed by Scragg. The use
of shoot
root and embryos as explants to generate callus or suspension cultures
for enhancing
product yields in some specific cases have been discussed by Stafford.

Some of the
most
promising secondary metabolites which have shown the possibility of
their
production by mass cultivation of cells are taxol camptothecine anti
cancerous)
artmisin (anti malarial) ginkgolides (anti allergic) and berberine
osemerinic
acid shikonin atropine and scopolamine. Production of vanillin from
Vanilla
plantifolia and C. oseus volatiles from Mentha species lavender Ocimum
anise celery
saffron etc. organosulpher compounds a garlic and catharanthine from C.
roseus
have been reported. It is hoped that methods to give scale up
production in
some of these species for the concerned specific biocompounds be
developed
sooner or after for large scale production in bioreactors.

Spice Processing

Although
this
chapter is not designed to be a complete primer on the subject of the
cleaning
and grinding of spices. It is very helpful to understand the principles
involved when preparing spice specifications. An understanding of what
can and
cannot be done by a spice processor will reduce misunderstandings when
developing spice specifications.

In the
United
States spices can enter the food supply as raw uncleaned spice raw
cleaned
spice ground uncleaned spice or ground cleaned spice. Spices can also
be
postprocessed to reduce microbial counts. All too often spice buyers
look only
at pricing issues and forget that these spices are used as food items.
There is
a large market for spices that have not seen any cleaning procedures
other than
that obtained during harvesting. A spice processor that has adequate
spice
cleaning facilities can quite easily show a collection of trash that
has been
pulled out of lots of cleaned spices. Besides the common stones rodent
droppings and insects the authors have seen nail baling wire nuts and
bolts cigarette
packages dead rodents fist sized rocks charcoal wood and numerous other
items
pulled out of spice lots that theoretically comply with FDA
regulations. It is
still too easy for a spice supplier to just transfer a spice from the
original
bale or bag to his box and claim that the spice has been cleaned.
Finding the
one large stone or piece of glass is an impossibility for the user s
quality
control departments. It is much better to know that the processor has
the
appropriate cleaning and grinding equipment and knows how to use them.

Spice Cleaning

All spice
cleaning equipment takes advantage of a physical difference between the
spice
and the foreign material being removed. Most often these physical
differences
revolve around shape and density. The closer in shape and density the
foreign
material is to the spice in question the more difficult it is to
remove. Before
moving on to the types of equipment that are used it must be stated
that these
cleaning operations do cost money. There is the cost of the cleaning
equipment the
labor and most importantly the loss of product that inherently comes
with the
cleaning operation. It is nearly impossible to perform a cleaning
operation at
reasonable production rates that results in a pile of foreign material
completely free of spice and a pile of spice completely free of foreign
material. To be sure that most of the foreign material is being removed
some
spice must also be removed. The opposite of this is also true at
reasonable
production rates it is impossible to guarantee the absence of any
foreign
material in a lot of cleaned spice. A specification needs to be written
for how
much foreign matter is allowed in the cleaned spice. This specification
has to
be checked from time to time to ensure that the equipment is working
properly.
Here some very simple checks can work well. One simple check is to drop
about a
pound of black pepper into a beaker and use a stream of water to flush
the
pepper berries out leaving any rocks or heavier foreign material in the
bottom
of the beaker. If anything is found the system needs some adjustment.
Some sort
of laboratory examination of the product is needed to really determine
if the
cleaning equipment is working correctly.

Magnets

Every spice
cleaning system should include magnets in as many locations as
possible.
Magnets should not be thought of as protection only for the end users
but also
for the processor since magnetic material needs to be removed so it won
t
damage the milling equipment. Although there are a wide variety of
magnet
styles there is no one magnet that is perfect for all systems. The
placement
and maintenance of the magnets is also important. No magnet will pull a
small
piece of metal through a solid flowing stream of dense spice. To be
effective the
magnetic surface must come in very close proximity to the metal and be
designed
such that the flow of spice over the magnet cannot brush the metal
piece back
off the magnet and into the product. In addition the magnet must be
cleaned
frequently since even well designed magnets can only hold so much metal
before
the flow of spices will knock the metal back into the product.

Typical
magnets
come in bar and plate forms. To be effective the spice should flow in a
loose
stream over the magnet. Systems that bounce the spice particles over
more than
one magnet are the most effective.

Cleaning of
the
magnets is very important. An effective cleaning procedure will include
documentation of cleaning frequency as well as records showing the type
and
amount of material collected.

Sifters

The most
basic
cleaning operation is the utilization of sifters. By running the spice
over a
set of screens one can remove particles both larger and smaller than
the spice
that is being cleaned. Although the principle sounds easy enough it is
generally very difficult in operation. Remembering that spices are
often not
uniform round spheres but uneven oval seeds or random pieces of leaves
the
problem becomes much more difficult. Sifters are generally not often
used for
cleaning but for sizing.

If
the farmer doing the
harvesting does any cleaning at all it is generally not much more than
a simple
sifting operation to remove large debris.

Air Tables

Probably
the
most versatile piece of cleaning equipment for spices is the air table
or
gravity separator. This piece of equipment is usually the one piece
that a
processor obtains first and uses most often. At first look an air table
seems
to defy nature. The heavy material comes off the high end of the table
and the
light material comes off the low end of the table. A look at the
following
diagrams will show how this is accomplished. In Figure 1 there is a
wire mesh
screen with a stream of air blowing up through it suspending the spice
particles just over the top of the screen. Naturally the lighter pieces
are
suspended higher than the heavier pieces. The lighter pieces are
represented by
L s and the heavier pieces are represented by H s. The very lightest
pieces are
actually blown out of the system by the air stream. In Figure 2. the
screen is
tilted and all the spice particles have moved to the bottom end of the
screen.
In Figure 3 a rotational vibration has been imparted to the screen.
This
rotational vibration is adjusted so as to just touch the heavier
particles and
tap them. The screen is built such that these taps tend to push the
heavier
particles up the screen where another rotation of the screen taps the
heavier
particles again and again. This repetitive tapping walks these heavier
particles up the screen as shown in Figure 4. Since the screen does not
tap the
lighter particles they continue to migrate towards the lower end and
cause a
separation. In practice the tilt of the screen the rotational vibration
of the
screen and the airflow through the screen are adjusted so that the
cleaned
spice migrates to the middle of the screen the heavy filth migrates to
the top
of the screen and the light filth migrates to the bottom of the screen.
Often the
very center is collected as clean spice the very top discarded as
heavies and
the very bottom discarded as lights while the area between the heavies
and the
cleaned spice are recycled for another pass. The area between the
lights and
cleaned spice are also generally recycled through the system again.
This
recycling allows a relatively narrow range of cleaned spice to be
pulled from
the center and sends the marginal material back to be recleaned.

Although
the air
table is a very versatile piece of equipment it does have its
limitations. An
air table can separate particles of the same size and of different
densities.
It can separate particles of the same density and different sizes. But
it may
or may not be able to separate particles of different sizes and
different
densities if the airstream floats a large surface area particle of
relatively
heavier weight at the same height as a small surface area particle of
lighter
weight. Since the air table separation is accomplished by how far the
airstream
suspends the particles above the screen it is understandable how
particles of
varying sizes and weights might be suspended at the same height over
the
screen.

Destoners

Destoners
work
on the same principle as the air tables but are generally much smaller
in size.
Where an air table is able to separate the product stream into as many
divisions as is desired a destoner is generally set up to remove only
the
heavier stones and rock. Destoners usually have a much smaller screen
surface
than an air table and are set up to only remove the heaviest pieces.
Once again
by varying the air flow the incline of the screen the vibration of the
screen and
the type of screen it is possible to make the stones walk up the screen
and
thus affect a separation from the lighter material. Destoners are often
used by
themselves or with the heavies off the airtable to reclaim more good
product
from the heavies stream.

Air Separators

Although
air
separators can be designed in many ways the basic principle is the same
in all.
The principle can be represented by a narrow stream of spice falling
through a
horizontal air stream. In general the heavier particles will fall
straight down
through the air stream while the lighter particles are blown to the
side causing
a separation. Air separators are built in a number of styles sometimes
using a
vertical flow of air but the principle is the same.

Indent Separators

The indent
separator tries to make use of the difference in shape between the
spice and
the foreign material. The spice is fed into one end of a revolving
drum. The
outside of this drum is lined with uniformly shaped cavities that the
particles
can fit into. The cavities are sized so that the desired shape of the
spice
particle will fit well. The centrifugal force from the rotating drum
will hold
the right shaped particles in the cavities longer than it will hold
particles
that will not fit well in the cavities. The rotational force lifts the
correctly shaped particles and when they do eventually fallout of the
cavities they
are collected in a trough and moved out of the machine. The particles
of the
wrong shape eventually fallout the far side of the revolving drum.

By
varying the shape of the
cavities (indents) and the rotation of the drum very effective
separations can
be made based on size or shape. Indent separators are quite effective
in
removing stems from herbs and oblong seeds.

Spiral Separators

Spiral
separators work well separating round seeds from nonround foreign
material. A
spiral separator is a U shaped trough that is curved into a downward
spiral
much like a child s curved slide at a park. By feeding spices into the
top of
the separator the round particles gain speed as they roll down the
chute. As
the round particles pick up speed centrifugal force drives the round
particles
up the side of the chute. The non round particles do not roll and
cannot gain
the same momentum and end up sliding down the center of the chute. A
splitter
at the bottom of the chute separates the round particles that have
climbed the
side of the chute from the non round particles that slide down the
center of
the chute. The principle is much the same as cars coming off a banked
turn on a
racecourse. The faster cars move to the top of the bank while the
slower cars
can take a course closer to the bottom.

Spiral
separators are amazingly
simple devices since there is no need for motors or blowers. Gravity
drives the
entire operation.

Spice Reconditioning

Spice
reconditioning was discussed earlier as a method to remove contaminants
and bring
spices into conformance with both Federal law and ASTA Cleanliness
Specifications. Reconditioning involves nothing more than cleaning
steps
outlined above. The FDA wants to know how the spice is planned to be
reconditioned prior to performing the work. They may want to supervise
the
operation to ensure adequate removal of the contaminant. Under ASTA
procedures
supervision is not necessary but the lot must be resampled and tested
by the
independent laboratory. If the lot is passed by the laboratory ASTA s
tracking
program will tell if the lot was in fact reconditioned a fact that the
buyer
may well want to know.

If faced
with an
imported lot that needs to be reconditioned or just recleaned there are
companies that specialize in these operations and have a good
understanding of
FDA requirements. They will be able to offer excellent advice as to how
to
proceed.

The
importer of
the goods is usually responsible for the entire cost of reconditioning.
In many
cases it is difficult to get the overseas shipper to pay these costs.

For someone
wishing to import their own spices and save a few pennies it is
worthwhile
remembering the types of problems that may arise.

Spice Grinding

The basics
of
spice grinding are very simple. There are a variety of mills used to
grind
spices and they are generally designed to cut crush or shatter the
spice
particles.

First of
all the
process of grinding ruptures a number of the glands in the spice that
contain
the volatile oil and frees this oil for reaction or evaporation. It is
this
rupturing of the oil glands that presents the biggest problem in
grinding.
Along with the volatile oil being more exposed grinding also generates
some
heat which will tend to vaporize this oil leading to a reduction in
flavor
strength. Any spice that you can smell during grinding is experiencing
some
degree of flavor loss. While no grinding system can ensure no flavor
loss it is
in the grinder s best interest to keep the temperatures as low as
possible to
minimize the loss of volatile oil.

Most spice
mills
are designed to pass the spice through very quickly and minimize the
heat
buildup. The choice of mill that the processor will use for a
particular spice
is often determined by the temperature rise during processing. Various
mills
can be configured in various manners by changing internal screens speed
and
internal clearances to control the heat buildup. Grinding the spice to
a finer
particle size will increase the temperature. Producing a larger
particle will
generally result in a lower temperature. This choice of mills and
processing
procedures is what controls the throughput of the spice. It is in the
processor
s best interest to grind the spice at as high a rate as possible while
trying
to maintain an adequate quality.

A few
processors
utilize liquid nitrogen to keep the temperature very low and minimize
oil
losses. Although cryogenic grinding is not wide spread there is value
in its
use. By freezing the spice and solidifying the volatile and fixed oils
these
spices grind and sift a lot easier. Since the spice is frozen it
shatters when
subjected to a milling operation. By maintaining very cold temperatures
cryogenic
grinding can retain more of the flavor components which are normally
lost
during regular ambient grinding. Cryogenic spices contain more volatile
components as well as more of the lower molecular weight volatile
components resulting
in more flavor and a different balance of flavor more true to the
natural unground
spice. In addition other differences include higher moisture content in
ground
spices since there is no heat involved to evaporate some of the
moisture.
Cryogenic grinding will also minimize oxidative deterioration of the
flavors
due to the nitrogen blanket during grinding. For the food technologist
cryogenic
spices can have advantages. First of all a spice ground cryogenically
may have
a different flavor profile. The top notes may be an advantage in the
right
product giving a fuller flavored product. Since the product has more
flavor less
spice can be used to achieve the same flavor level.

Milling
operations often include a sifting operation. The mills may have
internal
screens that in part dictate the final particle size or the sifting
operation
may be a separate operation where the oversized particles are returned
to the
mill for further processing. In either case the setup of the mill or
sifters
determines the particle size of the finished spice.

It is
important
to look at the particle size control of the ground spice since nearly
all spice
specifications contain a granulation parameter. Many granulation
specifications
have been developed without regard to the processes used to produce
ground
spices. All too often it appears that a granulation specification is
developed
by taking a sample of the ground spice and running it through a set of
laboratory screens to develop a particle size survey (x amount on a
ISI.
Standard 30 mesh screen y amount on ISI. Standard 40 mesh screen etc.).
With
this survey in hand the food technologist develops a range around each
screen
used that theoretically ensures every lot of spice will look similar as
far as
granulation is concerned. The fallacy here is that not all lots of
spice
produced on the same mill will have the same distribution of particle
sizes.
And certainly different mills used by different processors are going to
give
different distributions. If the intent is to develop a specification
that only
one spice processor can meet this type of granulation specification is
going to
do it. It is in the user companies best interest to develop
specifications as
broad as possible in order to allow as much competition for suppliers
and
therefore reduce the user s cost. For those cases where a very strict
granulation specification is necessary for some reason possibly for
spices that
can be visually seen in the finished product then it is certainly
correct to be
very specific.

As an aid
in
writing reasonable granulation specifications it is worthwhile to
review how
spice processors control the particle size of their spices. Most spice
mills
will produce a wide variety of particle sizes for any given setup of
equipment
and choice of spice. For the most part a distribution of particle sizes
is not
unlike a normal distribution as represented by a bell shaped curve.
There will
be some quite large particles as well as some very small particles. For
the
most part this bell curve is quite broad and it is very difficult to
tighten
this curve to any significant degree. A sifting operation changes the
shape of
the distribution significantly by cutting off very abruptly the coarse
or fine
end of the range. By developing a granulation specification by the
survey
method described earlier the exact shape of this bell curve may
inadvertently
be described thus making it very difficult for any spice processor to
produce
the exact same product on a continuous basis.

One needs
to
take a close look at the parameters of importance that need to be
controlled
when developing a granulation specification. In most cases the spice
particles
should be small enough that they are not visually obvious or felt by
the mouth
when consumed. Large pieces of ground allspice in a wiener would be
undesirable
because they would stand out visually and they would feel like sand in
the
mouth when consumed. Here particles smaller than a Indian Standard
(U.S.S.) 30
mesh are probably sufficient. Specifying particles that are
significantly finer
may be detrimental since it takes more grinding and correspondingly
higher
temperatures and volatile oil losses. Specifying how much of the
allspice must
pass a U .S.S.40 50 or 60 mesh screen is of no importance if it can t
be seen
or detected in the finished product anyway. It is worthwhile to discuss
with
the spice processor what are their standard granulation specifications
so
something that is even just a little finer than a standard product is
not
specified. It is interesting to note that cinnamon is generally ground
fairly
fine a BIS. 60 or 80 mesh because it feels very gritty on the tongue at
coarser
sizes. This is one spice where cryogenic grinding does offer advantages
since
the product usually is ground very finely the liquid nitrogen keeps it
cold and
prevents excessive oil loss.

Granulations
are
usually described using screen sizes. Most laboratories have access to
a set of
laboratory screens that are numbered by BIS Screen sizes. In general
the size
of the screen can be thought of as the number of openings in the screen
per
inch. In general a BIS #4 mesh screen has 4 openings to the inch. A BIS
#8 mesh
screen has 8 openings to the inch. Thus the larger the number the
smaller the
particle.

To
complicate
the matter further there are a number of systems of numbering screen
sizes and
a BIS #8 mesh is not necessarily the same size as a Tyler #8. A
comparison of
these screen systems is shown in Table 1. Descriptions of a 28 mesh 30
mesh and
32 mesh black pepper may all have the same particle size depending what
screen
numbering system is being used. Therefore when discussing granulation
specifications it is very important to specify the screen numbering
system. It
appears that most industry specifications are written based on U.S.S.
screen
sizes.

There are
special cases where the particle size must be controlled to a
relatively narrow
range. The common industry practice here is to use a / + designation.
Thus a
–30+80 mesh black pepper (often referred to as dustless since the fines
have
been removed) is one that passes a 30 mesh screen and is retained on an
80 mesh
screen. In general a spice with this particle range is produced by
sifting off
the coarser and the finer particles. Although spices sifted in this way
have a
quite uniform distinct particle size. it must be remembered that the
fine
product being produced is probably a by product that the processor has
to sell
at a lower price. An example of the black pepper demonstrates the case
quite
well. Using a 30 mesh black pepper (everything passing a 30 mesh screen
without
the fines being removed) as the starting point a –30+80 black pepper
will be
discussed. A second processing step is added to remove the fines or the
80 mesh
material. The extra processing dictates a higher cost. In addition
there is not
a strong demand for the 80 mesh fines so it usually sells at a lower
price.
This lower price for the fines separated out of the 30 mesh material
boosts the
price of the –30+ 80 black pepper to a greater degree.

As can be
seen
in Table 1 actual production screens are not identical in size to BIS
laboratory screens. To prevent problems translating from one
measurement system
to the other specifications are often written giving some tolerances.
For
example a product ground as a BIS 30 mesh product is often specified as
100% to
pass a BIS #25 and a minimum of 95% to pass a BIS #30 screen. This
builds in
the tolerances for screen variation as well as some wear and tear in
production
screens. Using the 100% through a BIS #25 screen specification also
ensures
that no very large particles are present in the finished product which
could be
present if there is a problem with the mill screens during grinding.

Quality Issues with Spices

This
chapter
will deal with the quality issues of spices. The parameters of concern
generally revolve around cleanliness safety or economic elements. The
cleanliness elements are set forth in Federal law such as FDA DALs or
in trade
practices such as the ASTA Cleanliness Specifications. These were
discussed in
Chapter 1. Safety issues include microbiology and moisture levels. The
economic
issues have to do with the flavor level and granulation.

The spice
industry has worked together to develop a set of standard methods of
analysis
that help define how these parameters are measured. The current set of
industry
adopted methods is available from the Indian Spice Trade Association

The most
important
point to remember when working with these methods is that they are
strictly
empirical methods. This means that the trade defines moisture as the
result of
the specified testing procedure not necessarily a strict measure of how
much
water is present in the product. The test methods as accepted by the
industry need
to be followed strictly to ensure that results are comparable from lab
to lab.
A modification to a test method that gives volatile oil readings higher
or
lower than the standard method are worthless since the term volatile
oil as used by the
industry is defined by the
results of the established test.

This is not
to
say that a company cannot use a different testing method if it has some
unique
value for that company but when talking to members of the trade it is
extremely
important that one defines the test method being used. Comparing a Karl
Fisher
moisture test method result against the ASTA moisture method will give
different results. Only if the test method is described is the result
understandable. For the most part it is easiest and most accepted to
use the
methods as adopted by ASTA for establishing specifications.

The ASTA
test
methods are continually being refined to make the methods produce the
most
reliable and reproducible results.

Sampling

The biggest
problem faced in the analysis of spices is collecting a sample
representative
of the lot as a whole. As discussed in Chapter 1 many lots of spices
are a
consolidation of small parcels from many small growers or harvesters.
This
means that a single large lot may face large variation in composition
within
the lot. Generally the spice cleaning and grinding steps will eliminate
some of
this variation but it with not removes all of it unless the product is
blended.
This variation is probably the cause of most of the problems between
suppliers
and users. Most spice processors will sample a given lot of spice many
times
while it is being processed and run a composite sample. This composite
sample
is a far better estimate of the overall lot quality than a single grab
sample.
As much time and effort needs to be put into the taking of the samples
as put
into the actual analytical work.

When
testing a
given lot for cleanliness the ASTA Cleanliness Specifications require
pulling
samples from individual bags representing the square root of the total
number
of bags in the lot up to a maximum of 10 samples per lot. This is a
good rule
of thumb to follow when sampling any given lot of spice for any
parameter. If
these 10 samples are composited the end result says nothing about the
variation
within lots but does give a good idea of the overall lot average.

Some ASTA
members are suggesting that the trade look at a three class sampling
program
that would give a better idea of the composition of a given lot with
less
samples but more testing. Essentially this sampling program requires
five
individual samples from the lot to be analyzed for the parameter of
concern.
Based on the five individual results statistics can be used to estimate
the actual
composition of the lot. This modification of the standard sampling plan
has
been slow to catch on but some industry users have adopted similar
plans
especially for microbiological examinations.

Sample Preparation

Nearly as
important as sampling the sample preparation is an important part of
the
testing procedure. Industry practice has established that all spice
analysis
should be conducted on spices that have been ground to pass a BIS. #20
mesh
screen. Spices which are tested that are finer than this need no
further
preparation but those spices purchased whole or coarsely ground will
need
further particle size reduction. It is important that this grinding
takes place
rapidly without any significant heat buildup. Laboratory mills that
have a
large mass of metal compared to the mass of spice being ground will
help keep
the temperatures of grinding down. Maintaining the mills in good
working order
with sharp knives and cutting surfaces is a must.

Remember
that
the entire sample must be ground to pass a BIS. #20 mesh screen
Material
retained on a BIS. #20 mesh screen must be passed through the grinder
again.
While grinding some spices finer will give differing results it is
important to
try to follow the standard method if one is looking for standardized
results.

The storage
of
the sample is extremely important. Spice samples stored in polyethylene
bags
can lose an appreciable amount of volatile oil overnight. It is
important that
ground spice samples be stored in glass containers and preferably
refrigerated.

Volatile Oil

The most
commonly run test on spices is the volatile oil. The laboratory method
consists
of boiling the spice in water and collecting the condensed water and
volatile
oil. The amount of volatile oil is measured by volume and the results
reported
as milliliter per 100 grams of spice. There are adaptations designed
for
certain spices. For example the volatile oil of cassia has very nearly
the same
density as water and it is difficult to hold the oil in the trap. By
adding a
measured amount of xylene to the trap it is easy to hold the oil. When
the
amount of oil is measured the amount of xylene added is backed out of
the
calculation. For this method it is very important to follow the test
method
word for word.

The
volatile oil
measurement is a fairly reliable indicator of flavor content for those
spices
where the principle flavoring components are in the oils. For example.
red
peppers have no volatile oil and the bite or heat comes from chemicals
that are
extracted into an oleoresin. Therefore volatile oil is not done on red
peppers.

The
measurement of volatile oils
in spices is also a good measure of the age and processing conditions
the spice
has seen. Ground spices will slowly lose their flavor and volatile oil
after
prolonged periods of storage. Spices that have seen high temperatures
during
grinding will also show losses of volatile oil.

Moisture

The
measurement
of moisture in spices presents some unusual problems. Moisture is
usually
measured in food products by measuring the weight loss of a sample
stored under
warm temperatures. The volatile oils typically found in spices are also
lost
during drying and this weight loss would also be measured as moisture.
To
resolve this problem the trade has adopted a co distillation method for
most
spices. In this test the spice is covered with toluene and the toluene
brought
to its boiling temperature. The moisture in the spice co distills with
the
toluene and as the toluene is condensed the moisture separates from the
toluene
and is measured.

All
spices cannot be tested for
moisture in the same way. Paprikas and other capsicum products tend to
caramelize during the distillation with toluene and additional water is
produced from this reaction. Thus paprikas and capsicums are analyzed
with the
more traditional oven method.

Although it
would seem that a Karl Fisher titration could be employed for spices
the cost
and technical knowledge required has been a drawback to common
acceptance. In
addition the small sample size usually used for Karl Fisher titrations
may lead
to erratic results.

The
moisture
level of spices is of practical importance as a control of
microbiological
growth. Although the measurement of water activity would be a much
better
indicator of potential for microbiological growth the industry has
established
traditional moisture limits which have had the same effect. These
limits for
each spice are listed in Chapter 4. Moisture migration in large
containers can
be a significant problem if stored in a warehouse with varying
temperatures.
For example chili pepper exposed to falling temperatures can have
moisture
condense on the top of the bag which could fall on top of the product
and cause
mold growth.

The
moisture
level of spices also affects the grinding characteristics of some
spices. In
particular it is very difficult to produce a cracked bay leaf when the
moisture
level of the bay is very low. At low moistures the leaves are very
brittle and
a large amount of fines are produced upon cracking. At higher moisture
levels the
leaves are quite pliable and the excessive fines are not generated.
When trying
to grind bay into a fine mesh the dryer leaves work better.

Extremely
low
moisture levels can also cause shelf life problems. Very dry spices
tend to
lose flavor quicker than higher moisture spices after grinding. In
paprika it
is very important to keep moisture levels reasonably high (9% 12%) to
help
retain extractable color. Color losses in very dry paprika can be
excessive.

Total Ash and Acid Insoluble Ash

The total
ash and
acid insoluble ash content of spices is a measure of the amount of sand
and
grit in the spice. The total ash determination is performed by heating
the
sample until all the organic matter has been burned off. The acid
insoluble ash
is the material remaining after the total ash has been treated with
hydrochloric acid. The acid insoluble ash is a fairly reliable
indicator of the
sand or grit content. It is important to remember that a perfectly
clean spice
does contain some inorganic minerals that are measured as acid
insoluble ash.
The levels shown in later chapter are levels that can be attained by
careful
cleaning prior to grinding.

The total
ash
content is also a clue that some spices may have been limed. In this
procedure spices
like ginger are treated with lime during the drying procedure to bleach
the
product. This added lime can show up as a higher total ash.

Paprikas
and capsicum products
are often treated with an anticaking agent such as silicon dioxide to
help
retain a free flowing product. These products will have a higher total
ash and
acid insoluble ash than products which are not treated.

Granulation

The
particle
size of spices is determined by sieving the material through a set of
standard
laboratory screens. Since many spices are quite oily they tend to
easily blind
the screens and inhibit an accurate measurement of particle size
distribution.
To facilitate the laboratory screening process the spice sample is
treated with
silicon dioxide. The test method dictates the sample size the method of
shaking
and the time of shaking. All of these parameters are important to
ensure
reproducible results. It is also important to ensure that the screens
are clean
and oil free. Regular rinsing of the screens with acetone is helpful.

Crude Fiber Starch and Nonvolatile Methylene Chloride Extract

The tests
for
crude fiber starch and nonvolatile methylene chloride extract are tools
to
detect adulteration of spices. Although not a common practice these
days these
tests are useful for the detection of the addition of other nonspice
organic
matter. These tests are not regularly used.

The crude
fiber
test is essentially the same for determining crude fiber in other food
products. High crude fiber results may occur if sawdust or other
fibrous
materials are added to a spice such as ginger.

The starch
content of some spices can be a clue of adulteration with starchy
materials
such as flour. Some old dry spices can take on a new appearance if
vegetable
oils are added. The nonvolatile methylene chloride (ether was the
original
solvent used for this test but has been abandoned due to flammability
hazards)
extract can help detect this addition.

Spice Specific Tests

There are a
number of tests developed to measure the quality of individual spices.
These
tests measure an important property of a particular spice.

Meat Seasonings

Overview of the Industry

This
chapter
will deal with meat seasonings. It is not meant to inform how to
formulate
sausage or other meat items but merely tries to give information
necessary to formulate
seasonings for the meat industry. Levels of restricted ingredients BIS
labeling
regulations as they apply to seasoning blends and a few sample formulas
are
included. The technical aspects of formulating meat items are best left
to the
technical experts in the meat industry.

Meat
seasonings
are usually low margin items. Often companies will switch suppliers for
a few
cents difference in cost per pound. If formulating sausage seasonings
it is
essential to have an economical source of ground mustard seeds. Often
sausage
seasonings contain a high level of mustard and unless grinding your own
it is
hard to be competitive.

Certain
seasoning companies are known in the industry to be primarily meat
seasoning
suppliers. This is usually due to two main reasons the first being that
many of
the smaller seasoning firms were initially formed by large meat
companies to
provide seasonings to their processing plants and then were either
expanded to
sell seasonings outside the company allowed to operate independently or
were
sold. The second reason is that some seasoning houses were initially
involved
in meat seasonings due to their technical expertise. Many small meat
companies
have relied in the past on technical support from the seasoning company
to
formulate their meat items and teach them how to produce the product.
Some of
these seasoning companies provided the seasoning the smoke flavors the
sausage
casings miscellaneous ingredients and the technical support to produce
processed meat items like summer sausage and wieners. Even fairly large
companies in the past utilized the seasoning company as a technical
reference
much more than they do today. Now most processed meat manufacturers
have their
own laboratory and research personnel.

Items that
seasoning companies usually provide seasonings for in the red meat
industry are
fresh cured smoked and dried sausages nonspecific items such as meat
loaves and
luncheon loaves ham brines corned beef pickles roast beef rubs and
products
like chili and taco meat. Seasonings for poultry items include pumps
and
basting blends sausage seasonings such as turkey bologna ham and
breakfast
sausage and marinades and glazes.

There are
hundreds or even thousands of possible flavor combinations for each
type of
product. The flavor of the product itself varies by region in India.
For
example chorizo bought in different geographic areas will be vastly
different.
It can be dry semidry fresh cooked cured hot or mild fine or coarse
grind or
red to pale orange. In addition there are an infinite number of
variations of
flavor available.

Overview of Formulating

To
formulate
seasonings for the meat industry it is essential to have a basic
knowledge of
BIS labeling regulations including the flavoring regulations which
became
effective in March 1991 the level of restricted ingredients in various
products
and a basic knowledge of how meat items are produced. Ideally a first
time
formulator should have the opportunity to apprentice with someone more
knowledgeable in this area. In addition the opportunity to duplicate
meat
seasonings gives the formulator a background as to which flavors are
present in
which products. Chapter 12 will detail the duplication of seasoning
blends more
fully. This chapter will attempt to provide some basic information to
start
formulating meat seasonings.

Meat Block

This is the
amount of meat used in a formula. Seasonings and other ingredients are
added on
the basis of the meat block typically in 100 pound increments. For
example the
directions on a seasoning label would read Use 6.5 pounds seasoning per
100
pound meat block. A meat processor makes his items in these 100 lb
increments either
500 pounds 1000 pounds or 700 pounds whatever his equipment will allow.
Any
other ingredients including water are added based on the 100 lb of
meat. Many
times manufacturers provide the seasonings in batch size bags for
whatever
amount of product the meat processor is making. In the example above if
it is a
500 lb meat block then the seasoning would be packed in a 32.5 lb bag.
Restricted ingredients are usually based on the amount per 100 lb meat
block.

Cure

A cure is
the
product used to treat meat for a longer shelf life and give it a
characteristic
pink color and cured flavor. Bacon ham corned beef bologna and wieners
are all
cured Curing meat products increases shelf life and stops the growth of
Clostridium botulinum which would be able to grow and form its deadly
toxin in
vacuum packed meat items. Cures contain salt sodium nitrite and less
commonly sodium
nitrate (limited to some extent since the nitrate is associated with
increased
formation of nitrosamines during cooking which have been found to be
carcinogenic) and an anticaking agent. Sugar is also sometimes present.
Some
cures are colored with FD&C Red Dye #3 giving the product a
pink color.
This is done so meat manufacturers will not confuse the cure with salt
in their
plant. Sodium nitrite is restricted in sausage items to 156 ppm. Most
cures
contain 6.25% sodium nitrite and the usage level is 0.25 lb (4 oz) to
100 lb
meat block. Other cures can contain 12.5% sodium nitrite. Other levels
of
nitrite cures for specific products are available however the two types
described above are the most common. Cures are never included with the
seasoning because many seasoning components such as hydrolyzed
vegetable
proteins contain amines and thus may combine with nitrites and nitrates
to form
nitrosamines which are carcinogens (21 CFR 170.60). See Chapter 6 for a
more
complete discussion.

Cures are
either
sold separately in drums or packed in batch size amounts. In the 500 lb
meat
block example 1.25 lb of cure would be packed in its own separate bag
and
placed inside or attached to the outside of the seasoning bag (cure
twinpack or
piggyback). The operator would then only have to add one bag of each
product to
his meat formula with no extra weighing of his seasoning ingredients.
Some meat
processors purchase all their seasonings in these batch size increments
others
buy the seasonings in bulk.

Since
sodium
nitrite levels are regulated seasoning manufacturers must analyze each
lot of
cure to confirm that it contains the proper amount of nitrite.

Curing Accelerator

The curing
accelerator most often used in the meat industry is sodium erythorbate.
A
second less used product is sodium ascorbate. Sodium erythorbate is the
mirror
image isomer of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) although it has no vitamin
activity.
Cure accelerators help increase the pink color of a cured product and
must be
used in combination with a curing agent. They are limited to 550 ppm
(7/8 of an
ounce to 100 lb of meat). Sodium erythorbate is commonly added to the
seasoning
blend.

Brine

A brine is
a
water soluble solution of seasonings salt sugar sodium erythorbate
phosphates and
cure which is pumped or injected into a meat item such as ham or corned
beef.
All flavoring materials should be water soluble although small amounts
of
garlic powder are possible due to its small particle size. Often
oleoresins are
used in this application with polysorbate 80 or other emulsifier
present. The
brine is formulated so that if the product is pumped 20% the level of
restricted ingredients is at the proper amounts. Pumping 20% means that
if 100
lb of meat is pumped with this solution then 120 lb of finished product
results. See Table 1 for an example of a pump calculation.

Pickup

This term
is
utilized primarily in the poultry industry. If a 15% pickup is desired
then the
poultry is marinated vacuum tumbled or injected so that 100 lb of
chicken
weighs 115 lb. This is important to know when formulating seasoning for
the
above types of items so the strength of the flavor salt and phosphate
is kept
at the proper level. Injected seasonings must be water soluble. Vacuum
tumbled
or marinated products can use some nonsoluble particulate ingredients.

Formulations

When
formulating
for meats it is much more practical to formulate based on the weight of
an
ingredient needed for a stated amount of meat block rather than working
in
percentages. To produce a product such as a wiener seasoning it is
important to
work in weight of seasoning per 100 pounds of meat. When the formula is
designed this way it can be converted to percentages and the seasoning
formula
can be produced. If the formulator wants to reduce one item such as
dextrose he
can convert back to weight per 100 pounds reduce the weight of the item
and
calculate back to percentages. The usage per 100 pounds will decrease
and the
percentages of ingredients will change but the weight of the
ingredients added
per 100 pounds of meat will stay the same. See Table 2 for an example.

The 3.806
lb and
the 3.556 lb are the amounts of seasoning added to a 100 lb meat block.
The
formula change reflects a 0.25 lb (4 oz) reduction in dextrose and thus
a 0.25
lb reduction in usage per 100 lb of meat. This causes the formula
percentages
to increase but not the amount of other ingredients which are added to
the
meat. To double check this take 1.52/100 (percent of S/E in second
formula) x
3.556 lb (seasoning usage) = 0.054 lb. This is the amount of sodium
erythorbate
added to 100 lb of meat in either formula. Calculating formulas in this
way
allows tighter control on the level of restricted ingredients. It also
ensures
that the other ingredients will stay the same while manipulating the
formula.

These types
of
calculations based on usages are used most often in the meat industry.
They can
also be helpful when formulating products such as sauces and gravies.
If blends
are formulated in usages increasing or decreasing various flavor
ingredients
while keeping salt and starch levels the same per cup or gallon of
gravy mix is
very simple.

The result
of
this new legislation is that most ingredients must now be broken down
to their
component ingredients which the FSIS decides upon. For example a flavor
blend
to replace MSG may have been labeled as natural flavor in the past. It
now has
to be labeled with all its components which may be maltodextrin
salt autolyzed yeast extract hydrolyzed
vegetable protein citric acid and natural flavor. This regulation has
complicated labeling tremendously.

Reaction
flavors
are another problem. Generally reaction flavors are produced by the
treatment
of amino acids or other proteins along with sugar under heat to produce
meat
flavors.

Snack Seasonings

Overview of the Industry

Savory
snacks
are a huge industry Sales in 1991 were Rs. 13.4 billion or 4.92 billion
rupees.
This chapter will discuss a variety of salty snack seasonings. The
products
included in this chapter are potato chips tortilla and corn chips
extruded
snacks popcorn nuts and rice cakes. A breakdown of the volume of these
snacks
can be found in Table 1.

Flavored
chips
are a value added item. The seasoning can make or break a product and
sufficient
sensory and market testing is necessary to produce an acceptable
flavor. The
seasoning also adds quite a bit of cost to the product. A seasoning of
$1.50 a
pound will add $0.18 to an 8 oz bag of potato chips. These figures are
based on
an application rate of 8%. This is a high figure compared to other
products
where the seasoning usage rate is often in the range of 1% 2%. Often
the retail
price of the flavored chip is not any higher than the plain chip thus
it is
essential to get the most flavor for the money. It is important however
to
purchase a seasoning that tastes good rather than on price alone since
it is so
important to the sensory attributes of the final product.

Potato
chips
sold in India in 1991 were 1.57 billion kgs. Unflavored chips are still
the
biggest seller having 69.7% of the market. BBQ is by far the most
popular
flavored chip holding 12.7% of the market. Sour Cream & Onion
is the next
favorite with 8.8% of the market. Cheese flavored chips are 3.5%. Other
flavors
including Cajun Salt & Vinegar Hot & Spicy Jalapeno and
Onion hold 9.7%
of the market. The remainder is unsalted and low salt potato chips.
Total
flavored chips are 30.3% or almost 475 million pounds a year. If a
seasoning is
applied at 6% the amount of seasoning supplied to the potato chip
industry is
28.5 million pounds a year! These figures do not even take into account
the
seasonings for tortilla chips and other salty snacks.

There are
many
regional preferences in snack flavors. Salt and vinegar is an important
potato
chip flavor in the Northeast. It is almost nonexistent in other parts
of the
country. Hot and spicy products are popular and much hotter in flavor
in the
southwest and in certain urban areas. BBQ chips can come in many
variations
such as BBQ Mesquite Grill BBQ Hot & Spicy BBQ and Hickory BBQ.

Common
tortilla
chip flavors are nacho cheese and ranch. New flavors are being added
all the
time the hottest usually marketed in the southwest. It is often the
regional
manufacturers which do the most experimenting and have the most unique
flavors.
Generally when a snack manufacturer introduces their version of an
existing
flavor the major national branded items are the target product. If the
same
seasoning is applied to two different types of potato chips (wavy and
plain or
dark and light) or tortilla chips (corn or white corn) the seasoning
will
usually taste completely different on the two products.

The salty
snack
food industry is primarily a market of regional manufacturers. Each
manufacturer produces products which their market desires. Kettle style
chips
are most popular in New England where fabricated chips are most popular
in the
south.

There are
four
major national marketers of salty snacks Frito Lay and Borden which
hold 38.7%
and 9.0% of the market share respectively. Borden markets under a
variety of
regional brand names. Eagle Snacks and Keebler the dominant player of
the
fabricated chips have 5.2% and 5.1% market share.

Some
of the current trends in the
snack food market are as follows.

All Natural/No MSG

This trend
is a
niche market in which nontraditional snacks such as high fiber extruded
products and other healthy good far you snacks are utilized. This trend
is most
often seen in smaller innovative manufacturers. Rice cakes and croutons
have
also been marketed in this way. The mainstream snackers do not usually
follow
this trend. They may feel the market is not large enough since the
people
concerned with these issues are not big snack consumers. In addition
flavor
preference wins out with the large snack manufacturers.

Low Calorie Snacks

This type
of
product is marketed similarly to the product described above. Low
calorie
snacks are often extruded from a variety of base products including
rice potato
wheat and corn in many different shapes and sizes. Extruded snacks have
a low
fat content and if the seasoning is applied with a minimum amount of
oil they
are low in fat and calories. Some manufacturers are using a gum or tack
solution to cause the seasoning to stick to the snack without added
oil. The
snack may then have to undergo an additional drying step to reduce the
moisture
to a low enough level to maintain crispness.

In addition
Frito
Lay has come out with a line of tortilla chips with 1/3 less oil. This
shows
that the national manufacturers are also addressing the low calorie
trend.

Unique Flavors

Currently
the
snack food market is introducing a wide variety of new flavors the more
unique
the better. The mainstream snackers have introduced a variety of new
flavors especially
on tortilla chips in the last few years but the regional manufacturers
are
often where the most innovation comes from. In addition products such
as rice
cakes have come out with a variety of new flavors. Rice cakes are
unique in
that the traditional salty snack flavors such as BBQ Sour Cream
& Onion and
Cheese are used on the same base product as sweet flavors such as Honey
Nut.
Honey Cinnamon and Apple Cinnamon.

Multigrain Chips

The big
snack
manufacturers are fighting for market share for the multigrain chip
sales.
Frito Lay began with uncle Chips and Keebler has introduced Kurkure.
This is a
new trend in the snack market. Borden is supposed to be coming out with
a multi
grain chip in 1992. This market is growing tremendously.

Overview of Formulating

Snack food
seasonings are unique because they are topically applied. This causes
the
formulator to consider different important attributes than if the
seasoning is
added inside the product as is the case of meats or sauces. Snack
seasonings
contain a large amount of extenders or bulking agents. This is due to
two major
factors the first being that most snack manufacturers have an upper
limit to
the cost of the seasoning so extenders are added to ensure the cost is
not
prohibitive. Secondly due to the importance of coverage the snack
manufacturer
cannot decrease usage to decrease cost like a meat or sauce
manufacturer can.
For instance a certain appearance based on a seasoning applied at the
8% level is
expected. If a stronger seasoning is used at only 5% the snack does not
look as
if it has enough seasoning on it and therefore is undesirable. On the
other
hand in meat products the seasoning is in the meat emulsion and
therefore if it
is made stronger less seasoning can be used without any visual impact
and the
cost per unit is decreased.

One
important
factor which must be considered in applying seasonings to snack foods
is
whether the seasoning is to carry all the salt or the seasoning is to
be
applied to an already salted chip. Some chip and tortilla manufacturers
due to
their process salt the chips first and then add a low salt or no salt
seasoning
to the product. In this case the seasoning can be applied at a lower
level and
still get the same coverage and flavor. It must be realized that if the
salt is
already on the chip then a seasoning applied at 8% should add more
flavor to a
product than if the seasoning contains all the salt and it is applied
at 8%. In
the latter case the characteristic flavor is actually only being
applied at about
a 6.5% level to the chip. The other 1.5% is salt. Snack manufacturers
must
realize that the seasoning purchased may also be more expensive if it
is
unsalted or contains a low level of salt since the salt is a very
inexpensive
ingredient at about 6 7 cents per pound.

Extenders
often
used in snack seasonings include dextrose maltodextrin wheat flour
torula yeast
corn flour and whey. Seasoning companies will use small amounts of each
to
produce a product with a desirable ingredient statement. For example in
a sour
cream and onion seasoning sour cream solids buttermilk solids and onion
powder
are the most desirable ingredients to be at the top of the ingredient
statement
but there is often only 8% 12% of each in the seasoning due to the high
cost of
these products. By formulating a product with the following percents
the
ingredient statement can be made desirable and the cost minimized.

Snacks with
topically applied seasonings require seasonings with a very small
particle
size. Salt should be flour or powdered salt with 20% or less retained
on a BIS
# 100 screen and the sugar should be a bakers special fine type or
powdered
sugar. Other ingredients used in snack seasonings must have a very fine
or
powdery consistency. The small particle size allows the seasoning to
adhere to
the snack. If the seasoning is applied in an oil slurry a small
particle size
also allows it to pass through the spray nozzles.

Snack
seasonings
often utilize higher levels of flavors both natural and artificial than
other
seasoning blends due to the immediate and strong flavor desired when
eating a
snack chip.

Flowability
of
the seasoning is a very important factor for chip manufacturers since
the
seasoning must uniformly fall through small holes or flow easily
through a
tumbler to sprinkle on the chip. If small lumps are present or the
seasoning
does not flow evenly it may miss some chips or clog the applicator. To
help
increase flowability anticaking agents up to a 2% level can be added.
These
products will not only retard caking due to humidity but will also
cause the
seasoning to flow much easier. Different types of anticaking agents and
different brands of the same type of anticaking agents will affect the
flowability of the seasoning in different amounts. On the other hand it
is not
advantageous to use too much flow agent so the resultant seasoning is
very
dusty. This will make production conditions intolerable and will waste
product.
Usually a compromise must be made between flowability and dustiness
since they
are competing factors. A small amount of soybean oil can help to reduce
dustiness in a seasoning. Another option to increase flowability of the
seasoning is to adjust the particle size. If using a slightly larger
granulation of some of the ingredients it may help to reduce caking and
increase flow ability. Many times seasonings must be adjusted for
flowability dustiness
and anticaking after a large production batch has been made.

There are
many
different ways to test flowability however the following methods seem
to work
well.

Angle of
repose In
this method a seasoning is allowed to flow unrestricted through a
suspended
funnel. The seasoning will form a cone shaped pile to varying degrees.
By
measuring the angle of repose (inverse tangent of the height of the
pile/radius
of the pile) a value can describe the flowability. To simplify the
measurement it
is possible to let the seasoning flow into a cylinder of a known
diameter and
simply measure the height of the pile. Sometimes a vibrator is used so
the
seasoning can flow through the funnel. The steeper the cone the less
flowable
the seasoning. The less steep the cone the more flowable the seasoning.

Flow time
This
is a fairly simple test. The most important factor is the type of
funnels to
use. Ideally they should be stainless steel with a completely round
discharge
orifice. The funnels should have varying discharge diameters from about
2 to 20
mm. five different funnels in this range is desirable. The seasoning is
placed
in the suspended funnels and allowed to flow out. The funnel in which
the
seasoning flows at the slowest rate should be used. The flow time is
the time
in seconds in which a set amount of seasoning flows from the funnel.
This
method is most advantageous in comparing different samples of the same
formula
to optimize the best flow agent and level.

When
formulating
snack seasonings it is essential to ask the snack manufacturers various
questions which will determine which type of seasoning to present to
the
customer. For example many sour cream and onion seasonings are similar
however there
are differences in the salt level the cost the flavor and various other
factors. These questions are outlined below.

Will the
seasoning be Topically Applied or Applied in an Oil Slurry?

This
will determine the strength
and the characteristic of the flavor. If a seasoning is applied in an
oil
slurry the flavor may be masked. The oil coats the tongue and thus may
not
allow all the flavors to come through. An example is a BBQ seasoning. A
basic
taste such as sour does not come through as sharply in an oil slurry as
if the
seasoning were topically applied and the acid allowed to dissolve
directly on
the tongue. On the other hand if it is a cheese seasoning the oil
slurry can
actually enhance the flavor since the fatty texture complements the
cheese.
When cheese seasonings are not applied in an oil slurry often powdered
or
beaded shortening is added to give a fatty background to the snack.

What is the Base Product the Seasoning will be Used On?

This is an
essential question. A ranch seasoning for a potato chip may not be the
same as
for a tortilla chip. Corn based products are stronger in flavor which
make them
more difficult to season. An extruded corn or wheat product may take a
different seasoning than a potato based extruded snack which can have a
cooked
off flavor present. In addition the ideal salt level is different for
different
types of products. The lower the density of the snack the higher
percent of
salt and seasoning is required to adequately flavor the snack. In other
words the
higher the surface area to volume ratio the higher the amount of
seasoning
required to flavor the product and to give the proper level of
seasoning
coverage. For example a typical potato chip seasoning when the chip is
unsalted
should have about 19% 25% salt and be applied at 8%. This translates to
about
1.5% 2.0% salt on the chip. A popcorn seasoning however often has
upwards of
25% 30% salt due to the higher surface area. Usually salt levels on
popcorn are
in the 2% 2.5% range. Applying the seasoning at 10% would translate to
2.5%
salt on the snack. If a higher percent of seasoning is used then the
salt
percent in the seasoning should be decreased. A popcorn seasoning
applied at a
level of 25% would only contain about 10% salt thus adding the same
2.5% salt
to the finished product.

If the
seasoning
is going to be applied to a new generation extruded snack or something
unfamiliar ask for a sample of the unflavored product. This way a
seasoning can
be formulated specifically for the base product and inappropriate
seasonings
need not be presented. This will save the snack manufacturer and the
seasoning
company time and energy.

Is the Base Product Salted?

This is a
critical question that most seasoning manufacturers forget to ask. For
example as
described above a seasoning for an unsalted potato chip should have
between 19%
and 25% salt in the seasoning if applied at the 8% range. Many chip
manufacturers however apply the seasoning in the production process
after the
salt is already applied to the chip. In this case the salt level should
be 0%
8% in the seasoning. Depending on the product and how much salt is on
the
unseasoned chip it is often desirable to add a small amount of salt in
the
seasoning.

If this
essential
question is not asked the seasoning may be disregarded by the customer
prematurely. The chip may taste much too salty if a high salt product
for
application to their salted chip is presented. On the other hand the
chip may
not have enough flavor if a low salt seasoning is presented to a chip
producer
who applies the seasoning to unsalted chips.

What is the Target and Maximum Cost for this Seasoning?

This
question will save a lot of
time if the snack manufacturer has a very tight price restriction. It
will also
help determine if they are looking for a very inexpensive product or a
high
quality seasoning. Determining price restrictions prior to formulation
is
desirable.

Sauces and Gravies

Overview of the Industry

In contrast
to
the seasonings discussed in the previous chapters. sauces and gravies
are
unique in the seasoning industry in that they are complete food items.
Snack
seasonings meat seasonings and even simple blends are used on or in
other food
products. Sauces and gravy mixes are mixed with water or other liquid
such as
milk or tomato sauce to produce a finished food item. Snack seasonings
must be
applied to a snack item meat seasonings must be blended with beef pork
or
chicken and simple blends are usually used as an ingredient in another
food
item.

Gravy and
sauce
mixes are sold in the retail market usually packed in foil packets to
produce 1
cup of a sauce or gravy. They are also sold in the foodservice market
often in
1 pound containers or batch sized bags to produce 1 or 5 gallons of
product.
Gravy and sauce mixes are also sold in bulk to the food industry
generally
specifically formulated to produce a proprietary product either for
retorted or
frozen food items.

The variety
of
sauces and gravies are tremendous. Gravies can be simple ones which are
mixed
with water Heated and served in the home such as beef chicken pork
turkey or
mushroom. Sauce mixes can be tomato based (spaghetti pizza creole
enchilada) cream
based (alfredo cheese white sauce butter) or unique items (lemon dill
tarragon
butter wine dijon mustard). In addition gravies and sauces can be made
to
withstand refrigerated storage extended steam table holding freeze thaw
cycles high
pH levels retort high temperature short time (HTST) processing and
microwave
cooking. Products are formulated with either a cookup or pregelatinized
starch.
These types of starches can also be used in combination. The liquid
added to
produce the product can be water tomato sauce milk or a variety of
other
liquids such as orange juice or even vegetable oil. Water can be used
to make a
tomato based sauce if tomato solids are added to the dry mix and water
can be
used for a cream based sauce if dairy ingredients are utilized to
imitate the
creaminess and flavor of milk. It is essential when formulating the
above
products to know what the customer desires whether it be a retail
consumer a
restaurant chain or an industrial account. These products must be
custom
formulated to perform correctly in the desired application.

Overview of Formulating

When
formulating
sauces and gravies to perform in a specific application it is essential
to know
what type of starch to use. Starches for freeze thaw stability
microwave
application stove top cookup and retorted products are different. It is
essential to talk to the starch supplier when choosing a starch. Each
company
can offer starch products for the above applications by chemically
modifying
various starches of different sources. It is interesting to know what
type of
modifications are possible to produce specific functionalities (cross
linking.
substitution. etc.) as are learned in the classroom however the
starches used
in the food industry are proprietary products. When choosing a starch
it is
more important to discuss with the supplier the functional
characteristics
desired rather than the type and degree of chemical modification.
Specific
starch recommendations will not be made in this book since specific
brand names
of items would have to be given. It is better to request a starch with
a
specific functionality. For example if making a tomato sauce for frozen
application it is important to request a freeze thaw stable starch that
performs well in low pH applications. Describing the physical
properties
desired such as opaque nongelling and short texture also helps. The
starch
vendor can then supply an appropriate product. Many starch suppliers
have items
which can be used in a wide range of products for many different
applications.
Other available starches can have pulpy characteristics either in
instant or
cookup applications or will mimic a fatty texture. For microwave
applications it
is often desirable to use a combination of a cookup and an instant or
pregelatinized starch. During the initial heating stage the instant
starch will
suspend the cookup starch while it is approaching its gelatinization
temperature thus eliminating or decreasing the amount of stirring
required.

Formulations

Gravies

A suggested
method for formulating gravies are to calculate and work with
ingredients on a
usage basis as discussed in later Chapter. In this way each ingredient
can be
varied as required without affecting the amount of other ingredients in
the
formula. It is also easier to formulate a specific usage level by
adding maltodextrin
or other filler to make an even usage amount (for example 1.25 oz gravy
mix to
1 cup of. water). A range of dry ingredients to liquid in gravy is 0.75
1.0 oz
per cup of water. A suggested starch level dependent on type of starch
for
gravies is 0.4 0.6 oz per cup of water or 0.4 0.6 pound per gallon of
water.
The proportions of an ounce of dry ingredients per cup are the same as
the
proportion of a pound of dry ingredients per gallon.

Most gravy
mixes
for the retail consumer contain a modified food starch along with wheat
flour.
Generally the modified food starches have a short clear
texture similar to cornstarch and give
the gravy stability. The wheat flour gives a more opaque or homemade
appearance
and not as short a texture.

Salt levels
in a
gravy will also vary but a suggested starting usage is 0.06 0.10 oz per
cup of
water or 1 1.5 oz per gallon. The salt content seems to be decreasing
in recent
years due to the concern of salt in the diet. It must also be noted
that
hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) and autolyzed yeasts as well as some
meat
flavors also contain a significant amount of salt up to 50%. The salt
levels
described above are in addition to normal levels of HVPs and autolyzed
yeasts
found in a gravy. When evaluating a gravy it should be tasted on mashed
potatoes or a meat item since the salt level should be appropriate for
the
finished food item. A gravy may taste salty when evaluated by itself
but when
used on mashed potatoes it may not since it must flavor and salt the
total
amount of potatoes.

By using
the
suggested amount of starch and salt as described above the amounts of
meat
flavors HVPs onion garlic color sweeteners spices and fillers can then
be added
to produce a high quality gravy item.

Chicken and
beef
or brown are the two most common types of gravies. Typical chicken and
beef
formulas are found in Tables 1 and 2. All formulas in this chapter are
expressed in ounces of dry ingredient per cup of liquid. Both chicken
and beef
gravies typically contain HVPs meat flavors and meat stocks to give the
meaty
note. Generally HVPs and autolyzed yeasts are used since the cost of
these
items are low and are the most cost efficient way of adding meat flavor.

Dehydrated
chicken and beef can be used in condimental amounts without being
produced in a
BIS inspected facility. The regulations for poultry as condimental
ingredients
can be found in the Meat & Poultry regulations 9CFR part 381.15.

In addition
to
the regulation limits meat items are costly and are often added simply
so they
can be listed on the ingredient statement. Rendered beef and chicken
fat can
also be used in condimental amounts to give a richer beef or chicken
flavor.

Spices and
spice
extractives are also used in gravies. Brown gravies contain celery
black pepper
and sometimes thyme and oregano at low levels. Spice extractives are
used when
dark specks are not desired. Chicken flavored gravies contain much
higher
levels of celery than beef flavored products. In fact it is possible to
make a
chicken flavored broth with salt sugar MSG onion powder oleoresin
celery oleoresin
black pepper and turmeric without any HVP or chicken flavor added at
all. The
turmeric gives the broth a yellow color and the celery onion and pepper
combination suggests chicken to the consumer. Sometimes sage and thyme
are also
added to chicken gravies.

Onion and
garlic
are included in both chicken and beef flavored gravies. Sugar is added
in small
amounts. Whey and milk solids are sometimes included to simulate a
creamier richer
flavor. Monosodium glutamate is usually included although an acceptable
product
is possible without it.

Chicken
flavored
gravies use either turmeric or its oleoresin as a coloring agent. Beef
flavored
gravies use caramel color.

Sauces

Sauce mixes
are
formulated in a similar way as gravies. They are much more variable
however.
The product is usually formulated to mix with water milk or tomato
sauce but
can also be mixed with a variety of other liquids. The usage level
depends on
what liquid media is being used. For example a spaghetti seasoning that
is
added to a tomato sauce may use 0.5 0.75 oz per cup of sauce dependent
on
amount of flavor and fillers added. If a cheese sauce to mix with water
is
formulated the level of dry mix to liquid will be between 1.25 and 1.75
oz per
cup of water. In this case cheese solids and flavors must be added
along with
milk solids and other dry dairy ingredients to produce a creamy sauce.
If this
same cheese sauce is made to mix with milk then the amount to add per
cup of
liquid would be decreased to about 1 oz per cup. Adding milk solids or
tomato
solids to the dry mix item can make the product more convenient to use
however
the cost is higher and can sometimes make the product uneconomical.
This is
especially true in the case of tomato products. It is much cheaper for
an
industrial user to buy tomato paste and dilute it with water than to
purchase a
sauce mix containing all the tomato solids. Basically the processor
would be
purchasing a product in which he is paying for the tomato solids to be
processed twice.

The starch
level
in sauces will vary much more than gravies depending on the thickness
desired.
A suggested usage for a cream based sauce mix is about 0.5 oz per cup
of water.
Other thickeners such as gums are sometimes used to increase the
viscosity. In
an inexpensive spaghetti sauce mix 0.15 0.25 oz starch is closer to the
proper
level. It is common for sauces to be formulated with instant starches
so
cooking is not required. However the quality of the sauce texture and
the
stability of the product can be lower.

Salt levels
also
vary more in sauce mixes than in gravies from about 0.05 to 0.10 oz per
cup.
The salt levels of other ingredients must also be considered.

Tomato
Based Sauces

When
formulating a tomato based
item it must be noted that some canned tomato sauces contain high
levels of
salt. If using tomato paste and diluting it down the level of salt in
the
resultant tomato sauce is much lower than a prepared tomato sauce. Food
manufacturers usually purchase paste since they do not wish to pay for
shipping
water. Consumers may use tomato sauce which not only contains higher
levels of
salt but other ingredients such as onion powder are usually present.
When
formulating items with these types of ingredients it is essential to
know what
products the end user will use when preparing the sauce.

Seasoning Blend Duplication and Tricks

This
chapter
will address two goals. The first is to explain the steps involved in
the
duplication of a seasoning blend. The second is to give background
information
and tricks of the trade that can help in seasoning formulation.

Duplication

Introduction

Seasoning
blends
are duplicated for a variety of reasons. The first is to match a
competitive
blend at a cheaper cost for a specific customer. Most seasoning blends
sold in
the industrial market are unique to each customer. For example Frito
Lay has
their unique ranch seasoning which only they purchase. Oscar Mayer has
their
own bologna seasoning. Matching a seasoning is desirable for the
seasoning
company since it not only gains new business but more importantly gets
a foot
in the door and allows a potential customer to see what the seasoning
company
has to offer. Sometimes the chance of success is better with
duplications. It
can be quicker to get business since the customer is already buying the
product. Often once one blend is approved the customer is more apt to
consider
your company when formulating new products. You become one of the
approved
seasoning vendors.

New formulation work versus
matching existing
blends is the most desirable since it gives your company a proprietary
product
other suppliers have to match. If the item is at a fair price and the
service
is good the customer may not wish to look for alternative vendors. New
formulations
usually get a higher profit margin than duplications since the latter
are sold
on the basis of providing a cost savings to the customer. New
formulations also
take a lot longer to sell since the product must be approved and often
has to
go through market consumer testing. The chance of success is also lower
since
there is a low success rate on new products in the marketplace.

Some
industries
seek out alternative vendors more often than others. The meat industry
is a
good example. These seasonings are often duplicated and the customer
will
switch for savings of only a penny or two. Meat seasonings are probably
one of
the easiest products to duplicate once a food technologist has some
experience.
They contain expected ingredients and list many ingredients by
percentages due
to USDA regulations such as mustard monosodium glutamate hydrolyzed
vegetable
protein and sodium erythorbate. The flavorings are also used at low
levels in
the meat products so it may be difficult to determine flavor
differences.

Snack
seasonings
are harder to duplicate. The seasoning itself is more complex than
other types
of seasonings. Twenty five or more ingredients are common. In addition
small
flavor differences are easier to detect since the seasoning is used at
a much
higher level and it is applied topically rather than in a food item. In
addition artificial flavors are common. These have a unique flavor
specific to
the item. Therefore it is sometimes difficult to find a specific flavor
with
the same profile as the flavor used in the seasoning being duplicated.

Sometimes a
customer will ask a seasoning company to duplicate the flavor of a
competitor s
product. This means that the product being duplicated is not a
seasoning blend
but rather a finished food item. This is very difficult. First the
seasoning is
not isolated and second other ingredient differences can come into
play. If
matching a competitive barbecue sauce the amount of tomato solids and
the type
and amount of vinegar can affect the flavor tremendously. Even if the
customer
is provided the exact same seasoning the food item may not match due to
differences in processing methods and raw materials. Two potato chips
that are
different in thickness brownness or even fried in different types of
oils will
taste very different even with the same seasoning on them.

Duplication Steps

When a
seasoning
is received for duplication the ingredient statement should be listed
out. It
is essential to receive the ingredient statement on the seasoning
rather than
the customers finished product. The labels are often different due to
the
marketing department requirements and what the legal counsel decides is
correct. It is best to list the ingredient statement out in full in an
easily
accessible place so it can be followed when formulating the product.

If salt is
one
of the ingredients a salt test is the first step. A variety of methods
can be
used. Titration with silver nitrite is one method. This is very exact
however it
does get complicated when red colored items such as paprika or chili
peppers
are present. In this case it may be difficult to determine an endpoint.
There
are also numerous analytical machines to use. Most methods determine
chloride
content. A standard is usually run first before the test product. Other
ingredients such as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins (HVPs) and autolyzed
yeasts
contain up to 60% salt. Check the specification sheets for salt content
for
these products if they are in a blend. These amounts must be estimated
into the
salt percent. For example a seasoning for duplication analyzes at 33%
salt. The
HVP can be estimated from the ingredient statement to be about 12%. If
50% of
the HVP can be estimated to be salt then 6% salt must be subtracted
from the
salt percentage leaving about 27% salt added to the seasoning blend.
Once the
salt is known an estimate can be made as to where the levels of other
ingredients lie.

If dextrose
is
present a test for reducing sugars is possible. This method will also
measure
for other reducing sugars present in the blend. In addition since this
is a
titration method if the seasoning has a high level of paprika or other
color
present the endpoint may also be difficult to determine. Actual
dextrose and
sugar can be analyzed however these test methods are expensive. A
spectrophotometer and a purchased test kit can be used this method
relys on the
glucose oxidase reaction.

Organoleptically
dextrose is not as sweet as sugar. It does give a cooling sensation on
the
tongue when tasted in a dry product.

Some simple
physical tests may also be done. If there are large pieces of minced
onion or
parsley present a sifting should be done to separate out the pieces. If
for
instance minced onion is present in a taco seasoning then passing 100
grams
through a #20 screen would be appropriate to determine the percent of
minced
onion. All other ingredients (including chili pepper) should pass
through the
screen leaving the minced onion on top of the #20 screen. The minced
onion can
then be weighed to determine the percent present. This is only a
starting point
however since large pieces will stratify in the test seasoning making
it
impossible to get a representative sample. Secondly the rest of the
seasoning when
sitting for extended lengths of time will tend to stick to the onion
especially
when there is HVP or soybean oil present in the seasoning. This will
give a
falsely high percent.

The
granulation
of the salt sugar and spices should be determined by visual methods.
Sometimes
just noting if it is granulated or fine flour salt or a granulated or
bakers
special sugar is needed. If there are coarse pieces it is helpful to
know that
coarse salts are usually opaque and coarse sugar particles are usually
clear.
If the pieces are large enough picking them out with a tweezers and
tasting
them will determine if salt sugar or even citric acid is present. Spice
granulation can be determined by a visual comparison to what is
available as an
ingredient. For example if coarse pepper is present it is helpful to
separate
the pepper and determine if it is a 10 14 or 16 mesh by comparison to a
known
standard.

To
determine
which spices are present it is helpful to put the seasoning in water at
1% 2%
and observe. This makes it easier to identify the spices. By diluting
the
seasoning in water the soluble ingredients will dissolve leaving the
insoluble
ones floating or sinking in the water and therefore easier to see.
Filtering
the seasoning blend can also help determine how much of the item is
soluble.
Soluble ingredients would be salt sugar maltodextrin etc. Items not
dissolving
could be spices. Small green specks should be ground herb and brown
specks
could be allspice nutmeg or clove. Paprika and chili pepper are red and
brown
in color with chili pepper being quite can be granulated or powdered
giving a
cloudy solution.

Sometimes
it is
helpful to go a step further and filter the solution and look at the
spice
under about 10 x magnification. By comparing to a known standard it may
help
determine which spice is present. Taste is obviously the most important
but
sometimes this technique is helpful when in doubt or when other avenues
have
been exhausted.

The amount
of
monosodium glutamate is difficult to determine by flavor unless it is
at very
high levels. At high levels it has a metallic like flavor with almost a
numbing
sensation on the tongue. Evaluating the seasoning in the finished
product helps
to determine the amount. Usually if the flavor seems more rounded and
stronger more
MSG is present. MSG has a unique appearance. It is shaped like small
crystal
rods. An estimate of percent MSG can be detennined by observing the dry
seasoning with the naked eye or under about 10 × magnification compared
to the
control blend.

A pH test
can be
helpful to determine the amount of acid present. This analysis is
usually done
further into the duplication process. It is easiest to compare a
control to the
test sample at a 5% or 10% solution. This test may be deceiving since
buffers
may affect the test results. Buffers are often found in snack
seasonings.
Examples of buffers in snack food seasonings are disodium phosphate
sodium
citrate and sodium acetate although the latter in presence of an acid
gives a
vinegar like flavor. It is difficult to determine the amount of acid
present by
taste alone since sweetness from sugar and dextrose modifies the acid
impact making
it difficult to determine the correct amount. It is best to determine
the acid
percent by flavor then go back and adjust if the pH is not correct.

If the
seasoning
being matched is a product such as a pickling spice which contains a
large
amount of whole and cracked spice it is sometimes easiest to take a
representative sample of about 25 50 grams and physically separate the
spices
with tweezers into separate weighing dishes. Once the seasoning is
separated each
spice can be weighed to determine percent. When using this method mix
up the
calculated mixture in a large batch (about 500 grams) and observe it
compared
to the control. Sometimes adjustments have to be made if the sample
taken was
not representative.

Tasting

When first
getting started duplicating seasoning blends it is helpful to taste
about a 1%
solution of the spices to learn how to recognize the flavors. For
example assume
a bologna seasoning with an ingredient statement as follows is the
seasoning
being duplicated Dextrose mustard (40.0%) sodium erythorbate (2.18%)
spice
extractives and not more than 2% tricalcium phosphate added as an
anticaking
agent. Usage is 2.5 lb seasoning to 100 lb meat.

The mustard
and
sodium erythorbate percents are given. These are restricted ingredients
as
required by the BIS. Spice extractives are very concentrated and would
not be
more than 1%. Tricalcium phosphate should stop caking at about 1%.

The
dextrose
amount is determined by difference. At this point compare the flavor of
the
spice extractives listed in Table 5 Bologna Seasoning. To taste plate
3% of the
extractive on dextrose with 0.5% Polysorbate 80 as an emulsifier.
Dilute 1% of
this blend in water and taste. Compare this solution to the control
bologna
seasoning sample in Table 5 and see if that particular flavor can be
picked
out. By working back and forth one begins to learn what the spices and
extractives taste like. Although typical extractives are listed in
Table 5 a
food technologist must be aware that often the developer adds
additional
oleoresins at low levels to make it difficult to duplicate and to give
the
customer a unique flavor to their brand. These flavors are not at
levels such
that it no longer tastes like a bologna seasoning but they are high
enough to
taste as a background note.

Finally it
must
be noted that when duplicating a seasoning blend the product must be
tasted in
the finished food item at the suggested usage level. First if any
seasoning is
added to a food product at a low enough level it will taste the same.
For
example if a seasoning is to be used at 8% on a chip and it is tested
at 4% it
may taste identical even though it is not really the same. The same can
be said
for meat seasonings. If it is to be used at 2.5% of the meat block and
it is
tested at 1% of the meat block it may taste the same. However when the
customer
makes a batch and uses it at 2.5% the flavor probably will not match.

If the
seasoning
is added to a snack in an oil slurry the flavor impact may be much less
compared to a seasoning which is added topically. In the latter method
the
flavor impact especially of the acids is much higher. The oil slurry
tends to
mask flavors and hide the bite from ingredients such as acids.

Duplication
of
seasoning blends is an art and cannot be learned from a book only from
experience. This guide is meant as a suggested starting point.
Seasoning blend
duplication all comes down to taste. The food technologist must
practice and
learn to identify the spices and other flavors. The best way to learn
this is
to experiment. By tasting seasonings and identifying flavors the
technologist
can learn how to duplicate them. It is best to start with a simple
blend and
work up to the harder ones. Sausage seasonings especially simple ones
like pork
sausage or Italian sausage are the best to start with. Simple blends
like
garlic salt soluble spices chili powder and pumpkin pie spices are also
easy
places to start.

Tricks of the Trade

Introduction

The second
part
of this chapter deals with tricks of the trade. This miscellaneous
information
on seasoning blends may help to duplicate seasonings or simply help to
formulate seasoning blends. All the issues could never be addressed
since each
product and project is unique. It may once again help you get started
and it
may help as a reference when you get stuck. The Code of Federal
Regulations (21
CFR) sections are included to investigate the regulations on your own.
Copies
can be obtained from the Government Printing Office. Superintendent of
Documents BIS Manak Bhavan New Delhi.

Colors

Two basic
types
of color are used in seasoning blends. The first are the natural colors
paprika
turmeric caramel annatto beet powder and carmine among others. The
first four
are the most common products and come in dry or liquid form.

According
to the FDA there is no natural
color unless it is beet powder to color beet products. The regulations
are in
21CFR Part 73. The CFR states that these natural colors must either be
listed
as artificial colors since they are added to artificially color an item
or by
their common name (i.e. paprika turmeric or extractive of paprika). For
example
if a BBQ seasoning is colored with paprika it can be listed as either
artificial
color on the label or as paprika. Most companies use the common name
for these
types of ingredients for a positive label impact. This has become
standard
practice in the food industry. In addition the new labeling laws which
go into
effect in May 1994 also require noncertified or natural colors to be
labeled as
added color. The second group of colors is the FD&C certified
colors which
consist of two types the dyes and the lakes. The dyes are water soluble
and
very little color is apparent until the product is added to water. The
lakes
are the aluminum salts of the water soluble dye formed by precipitate
absorption on to a substrate of alumina and are used much more
extensively in
seasonings than the dyes. The lakes are insoluble pigments and are used
primarily for surface color. An example would be a cheese snack
seasoning which
would use FD&C Yellows #5 & #6 to give a typical orange
color. Dyes are
often used in flavored drink or gelatin mixes and sometimes in
seasonings for
sauces and dips. They are mixed with seasonings but the color does not
become
apparent until dissolved in water. The new labeling laws which go into
effect
in May 1994 require all certified colors to be listed individually. The
aluminum lakes must also include the term lake after the name of the
color.

Paprika
turmeric
and annatto all have disadvantages compared to the lakes. The main
disadvantage
is their inherent instability. These colors will fade when exposed to
light and
heat. The aluminum lakes will not fade. The natural color fading may be
retarded by the use of a chelating agent in combination with an
antioxidant as
described in a patent held by Stange in 1963 (U.S. Patent #3.095.306).
Basically this patent states that the use of a weak chelating agent
solution
such as EDTA plated on the salt or other carrier along with a 20%
solution of
an antioxidant such as BHA and BHT in soybean oil can be added before
the
paprika thus retarding the color loss to some extent. This patent is
based on
chelating the metal ions and then retarding the oxidative loss of the
paprika
color by utilizing the antioxidants. It will not stop color loss but
will slow
it down. All these additives must of course be labeled on the seasoning
ingredient statement. This tends to curb the use of this technology. It
should
be mentioned however that while the EDTA and the antioxidant are active
ingredients in a seasoning blend they may be considered incidental
additives in
a finished food item. Legal counsel should be consulted when making any
decisions of this nature.

While color
is
being discussed it must be noted that the surface color of a seasoning
is not
always related to the extractable color. Many factors affect the
surface color.
If using ground paprika for color the longer the mix time the darker
the
surface color of the seasoning. This is due to the heat developed from
friction
during the mixing process. The color is extracted from the paprika due
to this
heat and results in a darker surface color. For this reason when
matching
seasonings it is essential to evaluate the color of the blend in a
water or oil
solution and not simply as a surface phenomena.

Secondly
anticaking
agents or the amount of oil in a seasoning blend can affect surface
color
development. Some silicon dioxides will lighten up the color of the dry
mix
extensively. On the other hand the amount of oil present can also
influence the
amount of surface color. The higher the amount of oil the darker the
surface
color of the seasoning up to a point. If two seasonings with 0.25% and
1.0% oil
are compared visually the seasoning with 1.0% oil will appear much more
orange
in color when paprika is present due to the extraction of the pigments
from the
paprika and into the rest of the seasoning. When the seasoning is added
to
water and let sit for a few minutes the orange color should be the same
intensity.

Paprika
turmeric
and all types of oleoresins and essential oils should be plated on a
granular
product in the blend. Salt sugar dextrose and maltodextrin are the
ingredients
of choice in that order. If the oleoresins are added to very powdery
materials
such as garlic or onion powder they will lump up and not mix in. The
powder
will stick to the outside of the oleoresin and not allow it to mix in.

Leek (Alliem Porrum) and Chives (Allium Schoenoprasum)

Introduction

In India it
is
possible to grow the largest number of vegetable crops in comparison to
any
other country due to its varied agro climatic conditions. The European
vegetables were introduced long back by late Dr. Harbhajan Singh. But
due to
lack of preference and different food habits among Indians some of the
introduced vegetables could not get importance. Now with the growing
tourist
industry and nutritional security among people most of the exotic
vegetables
have started showing interest. Also cultivating these farmers are
getting
remunerative prices of their produce by supplying it to the
metropolitan cities
and if produce is of standard can also be exported. Among these exotic
vegetables cultivated Alliums for the food viz. Leek and Chives are
important.
Although use of Allium sps was mentioned in Charaka Samhita a famous
early
medical treatise of India described by Jones and Man to whom Late Dr.
B. Sen of
Vivekananda Laboratory Almora U.P. informed in a persontll
communication. It
was also believed and has observed that who does eat onions and garlic
eats
Leek and Chives (both onion and garlic types) as they are growing wild
in
Himalayan ranges as perennials. In Himachal Pradesh Kumaon and Garhwal
regions
of Uttar Pradesh Chive commonly known as Farhan Jimmu Dunna and Laddu
Patti.
These crops falls under the category of herbs. The herbs have two
different
definitions in the Webster s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. First
herb is a
seed producing annual biennial or perennial that does not develop
persistent
woody tissue but dies down at the end of the growing season . Second
definition
is closer to the way gardners and consumers use it is a plant or plant
part
valued for its medicinal savory or aromatic qualities. The leek and
chives are
thus two important kitchen garden favourites. The crops are described
briefly
as follows.

Leek – Allium Porrum

Leeks
(Allium
porrum or A. ampeloprasum porrum) being easiest to grow of all the
alliums
cultivated for food. They not only perform well in a wide range of
climates they
can be harvested at almost any stage for use raw as baby leeks in
salads or
cooked in soups and santes. They are very attractive in the garden
being rarely
troubled by pests and diseases. Some of the varieties have blue leaves
that
contrast with white stalks has great asthetic value few varieties have
foliage
that turns violet after frost.

Area Production in H.P./Hills in India and World

In India
and Sri
Lanka it thrives well at higher altitudes but not in moist regions. It
is
believed to be the native to Mediterranean region where it has been in
cultivation since pre historic times. It was grown by the Greeks and
Romans.

It
is not grown to any great
extent in our country but is produced to a small scale by market
gardners near
metropolitan cities or in hills for exporting to big cities and is
consumed
largely by foreign population. It is cultivated in Europe West Asia and
is
famous in Scotland and cooler parts of Wales Switzerland and U.S.A.
According
to Kalloo it is well distributed near Eastern Saudi Arabia Iraq Turkey
Georgia
and USSR. In Spain during 1957 1960 about 490 ha. were in leek
producing 9000
tonnes per year. In France leek is produced to about 8 to 9 lakh tonnes
annually and leads the world in leek production. In UK its production
was
between 14 to 15 thousand tonnes per year. Leek is grown in every
kitchen
garden in west being hardy biennial and its blanched stem and leaves
find its
place almost every kitchen. No separate statistics is available for its
production and area in our country. However with the awareness of a
nutritious
food people all over the world there is a increasing demand each year
for leeks
for their well developed white shafts.

Uses Including Medicinal Properties

Leek is
delicious mild flavoured its thick succulent stems are used as an
autumn and
winter substitute for green onions. These white (blanched) shanks are
delicate sweet
flavoured used as raw cooked or flavouring French recipes makes
excellent soups
salads stews spice curries or creamed curries. As per Knott Emperor
Nero made
the leek historically famous when he earned nickname Porrophagus or
leek
throated because of his habit of eating them at fairly regular periods
to
improve his voice. Leeks are quite mild in flavour therefore consumed
by the
people who do not eat onion or garlic. In Scotland and colder parts of
Wales it
is the best vegetable when stewed in gravy and reported that nothing of
its
class can surpass it in flavour and whole someness.

Nature of Crop

Leek is a
tall hardy
biennial with white narrowly ovoid undeveloped bulbs and broad leaves
placed in
the Lily family (Liliaceae). It resembles the green onion but is much
larger.
Seed is used in propagating this biennial. Being a member of onion
family it
does not form a bulb but a sheath of leaves. These elongated foliage
leaf bases
(false stem) are eaten. The lower part of sheath is solid and is
inilder and is
more crisp and tender than onion. The greater portion of the stem is
covered by
earthing up the soil to get the stem portion blanched. It is a large
upright
non bolting type of onion. Leek (A. porrum) 2n = 32 is considered to be
a
cultivated form of A. ampeloprasum with almost no tendency to form
bulbs. Leek
(Porree. poireau) to which Linnaeus gave the name A. porrum and
differentiated
it from A ampeloprasum by its tunicate narrow bulb. Linnaeus in his
second
edition of Species Plantarum suggested that leek might by only a
variety of A.
ampeloprasum and later J. Gay described it as A. ampeloprasum B.
poporum. The
resemblance of leek of wild A. ampeloprasum is striking not only in
flowers and
foliage but also in that leeks frequently produced a small number of
both the
large cloves and small exterior cloves which are characteristic of A.
ampelprasum. Leek being mild flavoured contains moisture 78.9 g protein
1.8 g fats
0.1 carbohydrate 17.2 g Ca 0.05 P 0.07 g Fe 2.3 mg Vitamin A 30 lu
Vita. B. 75
IU and Vita C.11 mg/100 g. It is also comparatively rich in combined
sulphur
0.06 0.072%. Leek as per Khosla are the easiest to grow of all the
alliums
their complex onion flavour though sweet and sharp is mild enough to be
a
refreshing relief to breath conscious diners.

Some of the
varieties are being recommended by different seed companies are given
below.
All the leek varieties tolerate frost but some over winter better than
others.
Therefore it is suggested that first all the available varieties may be
tested
in a small patch of land as the seeds store well for three years if
kept cool and
dry. Further it can be decided which variety is best suited for the
region can
be cultivated on commercial scale.

Varieties
suitable for frost free regions The days of maturity mentioned are from
transplanting.

Yarna (50
to 85
days) Slender tall and bunching type fast growing can be harvested any
time for
fresh leek flavour in salad or cooked dishes can also be sown directly
like
bunching onions.

Titan (70
days)
An early type extra long the leaves are dark green with long white
stems. Good
for summer and winter harvesting.

Otina
(120 days) Blue green
foliage long thick leek from France can also be eaten raw as salad.

Production
Technology Leek alongwith common Onion and Garlic was supposed to be
cultured
long back about 30 or possibly 4 thousand years to the early
civilization. As
it spreaded from its original home the eastern Mediterranean area to
the rest of
the world prefers cool weather. They grow best when temperatures are
between
13°C and 25°C growth slows at temperatures above 25°C. Some varieties
tolerate
even minus temperature without any ill effects. Leek prefer fertile
soil that
may be well drained and porous. It prefers crumbly rich loam but may do
well in
any well prepared garden soil which is loose well drained nutrient and
humus
rich and with a pH of 6.5.

Leeks are
always
started from seed and need a fairly long growing season to reach a
marketable
size. Since it requires cool climate seeds are sown in nursery under
protection. In mild hills sowing is carried out in August October and
high
hills in March April when the soil is workable. According to Khosla
seeds may
be started in doors in Mid February for higher hills different seed
catalogues without
naming the varieties. Helm listed several cultivars with German names
but are
uncommon else where. Naming the cultivated chives has not been reported
as the
source of garden forms seem to be unknown. The chives are common as –
Chives –
Hardy onion type used for flavouring and seasoning. Easy to grow indoor
and
outdoors. The grass like leaves is used wherever a delicate onion flaux
is
desireable can be easily dried or frozen. Its pink blossoms are also
used for
garnishing as well as edible in salads or other cooked receipes
perennial.

Garlic
Chives Used
as regular chives with a mild flavour. Has white flowers and long grass
like
leaves. Long chopped leaves are used as fresh frozen or dried. It is
also
observed that it repels aphids mites and rabbits in the garden
perennial.

Staro
Heavy leaves for processing
and fresh market. Best for fresh market uses which demand a thicker
leaf for
freezing drying or immediate consumption.

Production
Technology In the recent past chives gained popularity among
domesticated
herbs. Now it is a popular plant in home garden but in our country it
is not
grown to any great extent commercially. However being wild in Himalayan
ranges
is collected by the tribals and is processed dried and sold to the
nearby
markets. Also it is imported or carried by Tibetans (Lamas) and is made
available even in far off distances. With its cultivation it is first
propagated by seed which after plant maturity is easily divided and
multiplied
by its very small oval bulbs or rhizomes which is divided by the thick
tuft of
compact mass. In kitchen gardens the plants tuft developed by seed
being
perennial it is grown for 2 3 years in a place and later on the clumps
are
replanted for another time span. But for commercial plantings the seed
is sown
in the spring which sprouts into a Skinny Scallion like plant in rows
which are
spaced 35 cm and between every 4 rows a wide spacing of 70 cm is given.
This
wide spacing is used by the harvesters who can cut the tops from the
side i.e.
4 rows on the left and right. Harvesting of tops is carried out in
spring summer
and autumn to early fall. During spring and summer plants are mostly in
botling
stage and after removing the flower tops the flower stalks are removed
before
placing the tops in crates. Flowers last for about three cuttings in
spring and
summer. It decreases the later harvest. The harvested tops are then
carried to
processing plants where they are cooled washed cut into 1.5 cm pieces
and
packaged and frozen immediately. These are further marketed in cups
different
containers and is also used in mixing it to cottage cheese.

If one
wants to
grow a clump of chieves in a hurry can sow 20 or 30 seeds together in a
small
10 cm dia pot when chives are tall enough this develops into a clump
and can be
planted into the field one or two weeks before the frost free data
(chives like
other alliums are very cold hardy and will easily survive the coldest
winters.
Also chive plants can be started from the old ones as big old clumps of
chives
needs dividing. The best time for dividing chives is in spring when the
leaves
are just starting to grow. During winters it remains dormant. Slice the
clump
into wedges with a shovel separate the wedges into fist size pieces and
give
each one a new space in well drained loose humusy soil in full sun. It
may be
practiced every two or three years.

Chives are
at
their culinary best when their tubular 1eaves are young narrow and
tender it is
before the plant flowers. To harvest these leaves cut them off in clump
about 2
cm from ground (do not just cut off the tips as the left over leaves
will turn
brown and become useless). To rejuvenate a plant that has flowered and turned tough cut it all off
(even now it)
close to the ground it will regrow quickly. The cutting stimulates the
fresh
growth and several harvesting can be done once. The plants are also
sold in
pots ready to plant even for harvest if the care is taken up properly.
According to Jones the culture of Chinese chive is more important in
northern
and Central China than in southern China. In China it is direct seeded
in light
loamy soil in furrows about 10 to 15 cm deep. When the plants grow the
furrow
is filled with soil and when the plants are some 10 cm. tall straw mats
of
about 45 cm wide are leaned from both the sides of the row to form a
roof over
the plants and exclude light. After 3 to 4 weeks when plants are almost
blanched the mats and soil is removed and the tops are cut about 2 to 3
cm
above the rhizome. As the tops of the plants grow out again the soil is
moved
back and blanching process is repeated. A single planting can be used
for 4 to
5 years. The green unblanched leaves are also eaten and in the early
autumn the
tender flower stalks which are just emerging are cut and used along
with the
leaves small bundles of green leaves and flower stalks are sold in the
market.
The yield ranges from 10 to 15 q/ha when the season is favourable.

The
requirement of manures and
fertilizer is almost similar to that of leeks. Chives too are subject
to the
stem and bulb nematode downy mildew and pinkrot. Chittenden indicated
that they
may suffer from rust. As per Jones pest control measures used on onion
should
be effective in chives but special precautions should be used to be
taken to
avoid residues on the foliage.

Capsicums or Chillies

Pungent
peppers
commonly known as chillies in India belong to specie Capsicum
frutescens L
which is most widely cultivated specie not only in India but also in
the world.
It constitutes an important well known commercial crop used as
vegetable spice condiment
sauce pickle etc. It is virtually an indispensable item in the kitchen.
Among
the species consumed per head in India dried chilli contributes the
major
share. Almost all the varieties of low and medium pungency that are
cultivated
on field scale in India belong to Capsicum annuum L. and only few
perennial
chilli verieties belonging to Capsicum frutescens which are
characterised by
the small size of the fruits and high pungency are cultivated on large
scale.

(i)
Chillies

Description and Distribution

Chillies
are the
dried ripe fruits of the species of genus capsicum. They are also
called red
peppers or capsicums and they constitute an important well known
commercial
crop used both as a condiment or culinary supplement and as a
vegetable. It is
virtually an indispensable item in the kitchen. Among the spices
consumed per
head in India dried chilli contributes the major share. C. annum is a
variable
annual sub shrub (originated in the American tropics) to which the
flowers are
born singly and the fruits are usually pendent which provide us all the
red
peppers cayenne paprika and chillies while a mild form with large
inflated
fruits constitutes the sweet pepper and is used as vegetable. Red
peppers or
chillies are cultivated mainly in tropical and sub tropical countries
notably
Africa India Japan Mexico Turkey and the USA etc.

Almost all
the
varieties of low and medium pungency that are cultivated on field scale
in
India belong to Capsicum annum species. It is only the few perennial
chilli
varieties which are characterized by the small size of the pod and high
pungency which is rarely cultivated on field scale (such as Bird chilli
and
Tabasco chilli) and belongs to the other species Capsicum fruitescens.
Chilli
was not known to Indians about 400 years ago since this crop was first
introduced into India by the Portuguese towards the end of the 15th
century.
Its cultivation became popular in the 17th century. Chilli is actually
reported
to be native to South America and its cultivation was known to the
natives of
Peru since prehistoric times.

Chillies
are
grown practically all over India. They occupy about 8 14 000 hectares
with a
production of about 8 lakh mt. Five states namely Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra Karnataka
Orissa and Tamil Nadu alone account for about 75% of the total area as
well as
production. The other states growing chillies commercially are Madhya
Pradesh Punjab
and Bihar. The highest yield is in Jammu & Kashmir Orissa Tamil
Nadu Delhi West
Bengal Punjab and Bihar.

Till
recently about
90 95% of total exports of chillies (mostly of Sanam variety of Tamil
Nadu) was
to Sri Lanka alone but because of the recent total ban on the import of
chillies into Sri Lanka India is exploring the possibility of diverting
chilli
exports to other sophisticated markets in the world. The possibilites
of
exports to the Middle East countries including the Gulf States remain
to be
explored on a priority basis. Development and export of paprika type
peppers to
European countries provide another opening for Indian chillies.

Uses and Nutritive Value

Different
chilli
varieties are grown for spices condiments vegetables sauces and
pickles.
Chillies used as spice are picked at full ripe stage and used after
drying and
grinding. Their sauces are made by pickling the pulp in strong brine or
vinegar. Its extracts are used in the production of ginger beer and
other
beverages. Capsicum frutescens is used in medicine as carminatives
internally besides
being an external counter irritant. Green chillies are rich in vitamin
A and C.
The pungency is due to alkaloid Capsaicin (C18 H27 NO3). The red colour
of
fruits at the ripening stage is due to the presence of pigment
Capsanthin . The
green chillies contain rutin which has medicinal value and is of
immense
pharmaceutical needs. The seeds of chilli contain traces of starch.
Bajaj
reported the constituents (mean) of red chilli are as follows dry
matter 22.02
per cent ascorbic acid 131.06 mg/100 g (Fresh weight) oleoresin 66.53
ASTA
units colouring matter 67.38 ASTA units capsaicin 0.34 per cent (dry
weight) crude
fibre 26.75 percent and total ash 6.69 per cent.

Origin and History

Capsicum
originated in the New World tropics and subtropics. It was introduced
into
Spain by Columbus in 1493. Its cultivation spread from Mediterranean
region to
England by 1548 and to Central Europe by the end of 16th century.
Chilli is
actually reported to be native of South America and its cultivation was
known
to the natives of Peru since prehistoric times. It was not known to
Indians
about 400 years ago as this crop was first introduced in India by
Portuguese
towards the end of 15th century. However cultivation became popular
only in the
17th century.

Production and Distribution

The world
trade
in spices during 1995 96 was estimated to be 5.5 lakh tonnes worth US
$1873
million and is projected to be 6.3 lakh tonnes worth US $2000 million
by 2001
AD. India s production in 1994 95 is reported to be 24.89 lakh tonnes
and
export during 1995 96 was 2.02 lakh tonnes (i.e. 36.73% of global trade
in
volume) valued US $227.74 million (12.16% of global trade in value) which was only 8.1
per cent of total
internal production.

India is
one of
the leading chilli producing countries of the world. The crop is grown
practically all over India occupying 956500 hectares area with
production of
945500 tonnes of dry chillies in 1996 97. Andhra Pradesh Maharashtra
Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu account for about 75 per cent of the total area as well
as
annual production of the country. The other states growing chillies
commercially are Madhya Pradesh Punjab and Bihar. The highest
productivity is
in Jammu and Kashmir Tamil Nadu Delhi West Bengal Punjab and Bihar. In
hills of
India the area under chillies is quite meagre and mostly limited to the
kitchen
gardening only.

India
is the largest exporter of
chilli (23178 million tonnes) i.e. 23.82 per cent of total spice export
is of
chilli (1990 91) Hardly 2.5 3.0 per cent of country s production is
being
exported earning foreign exchange of about 5 10 crore rupees annually.
India
exports chillies and their products mostly to Abu Dhabi Australia
Canada Japan UK
and USA.

Nature of Plant

Capsicum
frutescens L. commonly called chilli belong to family Solanaceae and
having
chromosome number 2n = 2x = 24. It is herbaceous or semi woody annual
or
perennial. The leaves are ovate tapering to a sharp point entire upto
15 cm
length The flowers are small white and borne singly or in clusters of 2
or 3 in
the axils of the leaves. The stamens are five which are alternating the
petals.
The fruits are of diverse shapes and sizes depending upon the variety.

Pollination

The extent
of
natural crossing in peppers is reported to be about 16.5 per cent.
Flowers
remain open for 2 3 days and the percentage of fruit setting is 40 50
per cent.
The flowering begins 1 2 months after planting and it takes again one
month for
fruiting.

The flowers
of
chillies open in the morning between 6 10 AM and the anthers dehisce an
hour
after the flower opening. However flower opening and anther dehiscence
to a
large extent depend upon the weather conditions. During cold as well as
cloudy
days the opening of the flower is delayed. Crosses can be made at any
time
during the day but morning hours are preferred. Flowers are emasculated
in bud
stage and pollens are transferred to the stigma either from mature
undehisced
anther by scooping it out through the lateral sutures with the help of
needle
or by touching a freshly dehisced anther to the stigma with the forcep.
Hands
and tools (forcep needle scissor etc.) are washed with 95 per cent
ethyl
alcohol. Pollinated flowers are protected from bees by a double layer
of cheese
cloth loosely wrapped around the branch enclosing leaves and flowers
and
securely fastened. Properly marked plastic labels describing the cross
(i.e.
female x male parent) and date are attached. Pollinated flowers are
periodically checked and the cheese cloth removed after 4 6 days of
pollination. Fruits normally mature in about 45 days.

Production Technology

Soil

Chillies
grow on
a wide range of soils but for high yields light loam soils are the
best. In
sandy soils the crop can be grown with success provided adequate
irrigation and
fertilizers are available. Acidic and alkaline soils are not suitable
for
chilli cultivation but can tolerate slightly acidic soil. The optimum
soil pH
required by the crop is 6.5 7.0. The field is prepared with deep
ploughing
followed by 2 3 cross harrowings. For good drainage field should be
well
levelled.

Climate

Chillies
can be
grown successfully in both warm and cold climatic conditions with
altitude
ranging from sea level to 2000 meters above. The ideal temperature
range is 20
25°C. The crop is killed by freezing temperature and frost. Heavy and
continuous rain during flowering and fruiting result in poor fruit set
and
dropping of flower buds. High temperature and dry winds are injurious
to plants
lead to flower drop and ultimately poor fruit set.

Sowing Time

In northern
India two sowings are done i.e. June July for the autumn crop and
November for
the spring summer crop. In the East and South India the crop can be
grown
throughout the year. In the hills the seed is sown in March April.
Under
Himachal Pradesh Conditions February May June and November are the
sowing times
in Zone I (low hills) March May in Zone II (mid hills) and April May in
zone
III and IV (high hills).

Seed Rate

About 1 to
1.5
kg of seed sown in 0.01 ha will give sufficient seedlings to transplant
in one
hectare area under hill conditions of India depending upon the variety.
The
treatment of seed with Ceresan or Agrosan GN as a plant protection
measure
against seed borne diseases is desirable.

Transplanting

Chilli
seedlings
are transplanted when they are about 4 6 weeks old (10 15 cm tall)
depending
upon season. Double transplanting i.e. one extra transplanting in a
second
seedbed gives an earlier and higher yield. The usual spacing in
northern hills
of India is 45 cm from row to row as well as plant to plant.
Experiments have
shown that closer spacings within the rows as well as double
transplanting of
seedlings enhances higher and early yields. Just after transplanting
light
irrigation should be given in order to establish the plants.

Interculture and Weed Control

Soil around
the
root system should be kept loose by keeping down the weeds. Use of
Alchlor 50
EC @ 2 litres per hectare as pre planting alongwith one hand weeding
effectively control weeds. TOKE granules @ 5 kg per hectare is also
found
effective in weed control of chilli.

Manures and Fertilizers

Deficiency
symptoms of various macronutrients in chillies as reported are given
below

Phosphorus
Leaves
small and bluish green in the beginning and later turn to dirty greyish
green.
Older leaves turn brown and shed prematurely.

Potassium
The leaves are normal
green but smaller in size with crinkled surface. Small white necrotic
spots
appear over the entire lamina in the older leaves. Finally there is
scorching
of the margins followed by pre mature abscission of the leaves.

Chillies
have a
long growing season and therefore require a judicious use of manures
and
fertilizers. Good fertile soils well supplied with humus are most
desirable for
growing chillies. Heavy application of nitrogenous fertilizer may
increase
vegetative growth and delay maturity. Experiments conducted at Dr. Y.S.
Parmar
University of Horticulture and Forestry Solan (HP) have shown that N P
K
requirements of medium fertility soils are 75 75 55 kg per hectare
respectively
alongwith 10 tonnes of well rotten farmyard manure. Whole quantity of
FYM phosphorus
potash alongwith half nitrogen should be applied at the time of field
preparation for transplanting and the remaining half as top dressing in
two
equal splits at one month interval after transplanting.

Irrigation

The
maintenance
of uniform soil moisture is essential to prevent blossom and fruit
drop. When
there is insufficient rainfall the crop should be irrigated frequently.
Generally in India 8 9 irrigations are given depending upon rainfall
soil type humidity
and prevailing temperature.

Harvesting

The stage
of
maturity at which chillies are picked depends on the type and purpose
for which
they are grown. Chillies used for drying are picked at full ripe stage
for
vegetable purpose at green but full grown and for pickle at either
green or
ripe stage. Generally the yield of fresh green chillies is 3 4 times
higher
than that of dry chillies. Under rain fed as well as irrigated
conditions yield
of dry chillies is 5 10 and 15 25 quintals per hectare respectively.

Drying of Chillies

Chillies
are
perishable having 70 80 percent moisture content but for safe storage
the
moisture should be 10 per cent. In India the ripe chillies are dried
under sun
for 10 15 days depending upon weather conditions. Excessive delay in
drying
results in growth of micro flora and subsequent loss of quality.
Commercially it
is dried at 54°C for 2 3 days.

Proper
maintenance of parental lines is an integral part of hybrid seed
production as
uniformity of a hybrid depends entirely upon the homozygosity of
parents. The
use of selfing technique by inducing mechanical cleistogamy as
suggested by
Pamidi in chilli can be effectively used for maintenance of parental
lines. In
this method a drop of plant gum available in tubes is applied on the
tip of
unopened flower which results in selfing. Use of this technique can
help not
only in the maintenance of inbred lines but also in the selfing of vast
segregating populations.

Breeding
for
Disease and Insect Pest Resistance

Anthracnose
bacterial leaf spot
and virus complex (TMV CMV PVX and PVY) are important diseases of
chillies in
India particularly in the hills. Resistant sources to these diseases
have been
reported and well documented in the literature. However results of
practical
significance are very limited. Only few varieties are released so far.
Among
these Punjab Lal (released by PAU Ludhiana) Pant C 1 (released by
GBPUA&T Pantnagar)
and Pusa Sada Bahar (released by IARI New Delhi) having multiple
disease
resistance have made impact in commercial cultivation of chillies.

Among
insect pests
aphids and thrips are important with respect to hills of India.
Resistance to
these insects has been documented in literature. However development
and
release of high yielding superior cultivars having resistance to these
insect
pests is yet to be done in India.

Mutation Breeding

Mutants
like X
rays gamma rays EMB NMH have been used in chilli for the induction of
mutations. But so far only one variety i.e. MDU I has been released in
1977 by
Agriculture College and Research Institute Madurai for commercial
cultivation.
This variety was developed by treating the seeds of variety K I by
gamma rays.
The variety has compact plant type higher yield and capsaicin content.

(ii)
PAPRIKA (C. annum)

Importance

Spices are
indispensable in the individual kitchen to food manufacturing and
processing
industries as it provides individuality to the food dishes with
different
receipes. Among the spices capsicums are the most colourful aromatic
and
important with different requirement around the world. It was so
important even
Columbus had to take up his second expedition when he observed that
natives of
new world use a colourful red fruit called aji or axi with most of
their foods
in his first expedition. Paprika (now entered in the vocabulary of many
nations) the Hungarian name for the fruits of Capsicum species is a
derivative
of the Greek Latin pepri piper. Kardos mentioned that paprika obtained
its
botanical name (Capsicum) from the Greek words Kapso Kaptein (bite) or
Kapsakes
(pod capsule). Rosengarten opined that Capsicum (red pepper) alongwith
other
spices were introduced to old world of Europe Asia and Africa from New
World of
central and South America. In India it was introduced by Portugese in
the 17th
century in and around Goa from where it spreaded to other parts of the
country.
Now it exists with a wide range of variation in size shape colour
pungency and
seed content. Cultivation of paprika in Hungary includes crop both as a
vegetable and as a condiment which is further referred as vegetable
paprika to
green pepper used for raw consumption in making vegetable dishes
processing
into canned and pickled forms. Other is as Spice paprika (red pepper)
cultivated for production of varieties suitable for making paprika
powder and
extracting oleoresin or other seasonings of the biologically matured
red ripe
fruits. But in the International trade paprika is a mild variety of
genus
Capsicum being one of the most important spice used as ground powder or
paprika
oleoresin (obtained by solvent extraction of the dried ripe fruits).
Paprika
Oleoresin is a homogenous dark red liquid and is dispersible in water
and
vegetable oils. It is used for seasoning the food and imparting red
colour in
vegetable and non vegetable preparations snacks sauces soups and
pickles. One
part of oleoresin can replace 50 60 parts of ground red paprika.
Observing the
potential of this crop with 30% annual growth for exporting oleoresin
which was
around 950 mt during 1991 92 could estimate 2000 mt in 1995 96. Paprika
development for providing raw material to Oleoresin industries has also
been
taken up in India to meet the export potential of this crop and also to
meet
the home consumption. Paprika is marketed in ground or oleoresin form
differing
in grades of colour value and pungency. Some dried paprika fruits (in
the form
of strings) are marketed for using in special foods. Thus chillies and
paprika
the two dominant types of Capsicum are used all over the world as a
spice crop.

Paprika
belongs
to Solanaceae family of genus Capsicum most of the paprika varieties
fall under
species annuum. The fruits vary from roughly cherry shape about the
size of
apricot grown in Spain and Morocco to long conical anaheim shaped
cultivated in
Hungary USA and Canada. The dried ground product is available in sweet
to
mildly pungent forms with a wide range of colouring content capsaithin.

Paprika
or Hungarian Paprika also
called sweet pepper or Spanish pimento is the mild or non pungent
variety of
chilli or capsicum. The dried ripe red paprikas are valued chiefly for
their
brilliant red colour and mild flavour. The European paprikas are
different from
their cousin red chillies which are grown extensively in India. Today
there is
considerable demand for paprika powder in the Western world. It is
desirable to
extend the area wilder paprika in India with the ultimate object of
diversification of exports particularly when the gates of Sri Lanka are
closed
to all countries including India for the import of chillies into Sri
Lanka.
Besides the price of paprika in 1994 in New York was US$ 3.05/ kg more
than
double that of chillies which were priced at US$ 1.41 / kg. Hence there
is good
scope for growing and exporting paprika from India. Some success has
already
been attained both at the IARI New Delhi and CFTRI Mysore where several
varieties of paprika have been successfully grown indicating good scope
for
expansion of area under paprika.

It is
reported
that it was during a Turkish invasion of Hungary in the 16th century
that a new
crop was introduced to the land of the Magyars. They called it Turkish
pepper which in the
Hungarian language became
paprika. In reality paprika was not Turkish at al. It was a product of
the New
World member of the huge plant family of pod peppers called Capsicums
native to
the Western Hemisphere. Turkey had simply been one of the many places
which
received seeds of capsicum plants soon after the discovery of the
Americas. Yet
paprika as it developed in Europe became a very special spice which was
quite
different from its relatives across the Atlantic. In Europe under
different
soils and climates and due to crossbreeding the fruit of these
capsicums took
on new characteristics. In Hungary the traditional peppers became much
milder
than their American cousins but they still retained a distinctive nip.
But regardless
of whether the European peppers had little or no bite they all
eventually
became known as paprika. Even the Spaniards who had originally named
their
product pimenton were forced to use the term paprika when they entered
the
export market such was the acceptance and popularity which the
Hungarians had
built for this spice.

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